Jacob's Daughters
by LeahAnne
Summary: Jacob and Bella have built a life in La Push together. Their daughter, Norah, is now 18 years old and is head over heels in love with the boy she grew up with. Rowan, 15, is to be the next Alpha. So what happens when Jacob's daughter with Leah shows up?
1. Denali

Jacob's Daughters

a fan fiction by LeahAnne

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Chapter 1 - Denali

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**A/N: **Here's PART III! I'm so excited to get this story started... I can't wait! For those of you who have just clicked upon this story, please go back and read _Jacob's Baby _and _Jacob's Promise_, otherwise this story really won't make much sense. :) For those of you who have been with me through this whole journey, I know you're antsy to read, so I'll keep this short. _Jacob's Daughters_ takes place fifteen years after the end of _Jacob's Promise_. I know that's quite a jump, but there's a reason for it... that and I really wanted to play with the characters I created in the last two installments. Anyway, I think that's all I really need to go into... the rest is sort of self-explanatory. :)

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I often wondered what drove my parents to decide to move to Denali, Alaska before I was born. Mom said she often found the wilderness and cold peaceful and that she couldn't imagine living anywhere else. I simply thought she was crazy.

Seriously, of all the places to live in the entire country, she had to pick almost as far north as one could possibly travel, at the highest peak in North America. She said that the large Native American population of Denali was a draw when she and my dad decided to move here. She said the second reason she decided to move here was because of the huge amounts of daylight during the summer. It was just now July and I was pleased that the amount of daylight seemed to be increasing by the day. I loved it. It kept it warmer. I guess that was the only good thing about this place... the sun.

I guess the worst part about Denali was that it was always so lonely. There weren't many people around Mt. McKinley. I wasn't happy about that at all... I wanted, _needed_ human companionship. And although I was nearly fifteen and often helped my mom at her part-time job at the local quilting and fabric store, I was almost always lonely.

"Mom," I said one day, sighing and putting a few scraps of fabric in a bin.

"What?" she asked, looking over at me from her sewing machine.

"I'm bored," I said simply, flopping down on a nearby chair.

"Don't slouch," she said, glaring at me. "And don't flop on that chair. You're getting much too tall." At five-nine, I was taller than most of the other girls in town, taller than most of the women, too. Already, I was only an inch shorter than my mom.

"Fine," I said, getting up and moving to the counter top and leaning against it. "You still didn't answer my question. I'm _bored._"

"That's not a question. It's a statement. And I don't know what to do about your boredom. What's the name of that boy you've been hanging out with? Jacob?"

"Jackson," I said irritably, folding my arms and glaring out the window. "And he's out with his girlfriend. Supposedly going to go see some great movie that's getting released tonight."

"I'm sorry," Mom said, sighing. "I know how it feels."

"You have no idea," I snapped, turning and looking out the window.

"I think I have a better idea than you think," she said quietly. She sighed and continued her work on the sewing machine.

I wasn't sure what to say. I stared down at the floor and picked at a stray string dangling from the hem at the bottom of my shirt.

A loud rap at the door made us both jump.

"Charley!" Jackson yelled, his big brown eyes open wide with excitement.

"Does he really need to scream at the top of his lungs?" Mom sighed. "Let him in, dear."

I opened the door and let him in.

"What on earth is your problem?" I asked him, in sheer mortification.

"Come outside, please," he begged.

I took one look at Mom and knew that it was pretty much futile to even ask.

"You know we had our bills due today and we're still short on money. I have to finish both of these quilts today - "

"Please, Mrs. Clearwater? We won't be gone long... and when we get back, I'll help the two of you finish up," Jackson begged.

"What on earth is so important?" I asked him.

"You'll see later," he whispered in my ear.

"Fine," Mom said. "As long as you come back and help us finish, you can take her off my hands for a couple of hours. I don't see why not..."

"Thank you, Mrs. Clearwater!" Jackson said excitedly. Before I could even stutter, he pulled my hand and yanked me out the door.

We were running quickly, up the dirt path behind the store and up the hills that followed. We were running almost too quickly, leaving everything behind.

And suddenly, I felt something go _splat_ on the side of my face. I froze, but Jackson kept running. My hand slowly swept up to my cheek and I pulled it back to see dark, slimy mud dripping down my hand. Before I could even think, another one hit me in the back of my head. I started running, chasing Jackson, hoping he could get me out of this mess, or at least take up for me.

"Hey, Eskimo!" someone yelled, as I dodged another mud-ball.

"Squaw! Injun!" someone else yelled. Another mud-ball hit me in the back of the head, harder this time.

"Savage!"

"Bushnigger!"

"Nit!"

"Pieface!"

"Redskin!" Another one hit me, this time right in the middle of my face. I knelt down to the ground and started to cry.

"Tee-pee creeper!"

The taunts and ridiculous names continued on and on until finally, a surge of pent-up range and anger flared and all I saw was red. I got up and suddenly I felt myself flying through the air as the stupid racist mud-ball-throwers screamed in shock and scattered. I looked back down toward the ground and could only see white paws, flecked with mud. I felt _huge_. And I was scared. What was this? What was I? And what the hell was going on?

I ran, trying to shake back into my own body and out of this monstrous _thing_. What the hell was going on? Was I some sort of monster? Maybe my dad hadn't died at all... maybe he had been the same thing and had to run off in order to stay away from other people! But what if I was stuck like this forever? What if I never saw my mom ever again?

I ran back toward the quilt shop, scared to death. Perhaps my mom would be able to recognize me. Perhaps she knew how to get me back to myself... because honestly, I had no idea how the hell to get back.

I scratched on the door, shaking. I was a freaking DOG. What the hell?

Mom came up to the door, her hair pulled back into a long braid. She looked out, expecting to see me standing there. I whined softly and she looked down. I expected her to scream or shout or shoo me away or _something_, but she didn't. Instead, she simply sighed.

"Come on, Charlotte," she sighed. She led me back toward the front of the store and then ran to the door and locked it. "Stay here."

I nodded and laid down in the middle of the floor, my head on my _paws._ This was too unreal.

She headed back into the supply room and suddenly, I could hear her _thoughts._

_It's okay, Charlotte. I promise. I'm going to come back out now, but you can't freak out._

_What is going on? _I asked her, confused.

_You've just experienced your first phase, _she answered.

_Phase?_ I asked, completely baffled.

_We're shape-shifters, Char. Well, they used the term "werewolves" back at home. Charlotte, there's a lot of things that I haven't told you that I need to. I guess I just hoped that you wouldn't have inherited the gene. Now I know that was just wishful thinking._

She came back around the corner and I squealed in horror.

Mom wasn't the same tall, beautiful woman I had always known her as. Instead, she was a WOLF. A beautiful wolf, but nevertheless a _wolf. _A steel gray, magnificent creature, bigger than any wolf I had ever seen.

_You do make quite a beautiful wolf, Char. And I guess this... _revelation_ means that we need to go back home._

_Home? _I asked, confused. _I thought we _were_ home._

_No,_ Mom answered. _I knew that this was coming, what with you getting taller and all. _She sighed. _Home is in Washington, down in the lower forty-eight. We are La Push Quileutes, Charlotte. And it's time for you to meet your dad._

_My dad? _And here I was thinking he was dead... that he had died before I was born. What was going on? Who was I? And why was I a wolf?

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_Here's the first chapter of Jacob's Daughters. Like I said earlier, I'm super excited about this installment and all I have planned for it! _

_Thanks for reading and please review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	2. La Push

Chapter 2 - La Push

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**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight. However, I do own the characters that are not of the original Twilight series, including Norah and Rowan Black, Levi and Aiden Uley, and Charley Clearwater.

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High school was something that I often looked at as a chore. But now that it was over, it was kind of bittersweet. I was top of my graduating class at Quileute High School, something I took great pride in. However, my best friend, Levi Uley, was right at my heels.

Levi and I pretty much grew up together. He was born a little over two months before me and took great pride in that fact. We ran the shores of First Beach together before we could talk, complete in diapers. Not that I remember those early escapades... my parents just use them for revenge and blackmail.

When we got into high school, though, Levi became my safety net. We both started dating and I found myself measuring each guy that I dated up to him. All of them fell short. And on our side of the reservation, Levi was the only guy that was anywhere close to my age. The next oldest was his younger brother Aiden, who was about four months older than my own little brother. Umn, no thanks. Gross.

It was after I broke up with the ten millionth guy that chased after me that I finally decided that I wasn't going to date just to stop thinking about Levi. That's when he found his one true love. Oh gag me. Uncle Embry's wife's daughter from a previous relationship showed back up on the reservation. Embry'd talked about her before, but it wasn't until I sat eyes on her that I realized something - she was _white._ Not that I was racist or anything, considering I'm half pale face and I love my mom to death. It's just... I never saw Levi even look twice at a white girl. Especially one with blonde hair and blue eyes who was a short as a freakin' pixie. I mean, I was never tall and I was just fine with that... my five-foot-fiveness was perfectly average. However, I doubted that Aubrey was even five feet tall. Levi simply towered over her and I often wondered how much Levi's back had to have hurt bending over and kissing her. Until I realized that she wore freakin stillettos that made her almost as tall as me. Bitch.

Levi and his pixie had been going on strong for over two years and it hurt more than I cared to admit. I guess it hurt the most because I knew that I'd never be enough for him. I'd been trying to grasp that fact for a while, but it just never seemed to stick.

Mom called it an "unrequited love," something she says my dad experienced for a while when she was off with some other fling, but I doubted it. Hell, my dad was freakin' HOT. Sure, that really weird coming out of my mouth as his daughter, but I'd seen the way the other women on the reservation looked at him and then looked at my mom with some sort of... confused curiosity. Levi and Aubrey attracted the same looks. And then they would look over at me, walking around like sunshine and daisies without a boyfriend or significant other at all and ask me if I liked girls. Ha.

"Norah?" Mom asked, snapping me out of my reverie. "Your dad and Sam are coming over after the tribal meeting with a few of the other members. Emily's sick with the flu. Do you mind helping me with dinner? I can't cook all of this by myself."

"Sure, Mom," I answered, looking out the door. "Embry's not coming is he?" I asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I think Jacob mentioned that he was coming. Why?"

I didn't answer. I just sighed in irritation.

"I know how you feel about his step-daughter. But you're just going to have to suck it up, honey. I know that's not the answer you want, but right now, I doubt anything is going to change."

"What do you mean?" I asked her as I started setting the table.

"Nothing," Mom answered. "You'll see eventually." She pulled a large pan out from under the stove and started making cornbread.

Rowan traipsed through the front door, Aiden right after him.

"Stop it right there," Mom said seriously. "Take off your shoes and grab a broom. You two boys can start sweeping the floor. And then you can take the living room rugs out and beat them."

"But Mom, Aiden and I were going to - "

"Just do it!" Mom snapped. I hid my laughter as Rowan rolled his eyes and grabbed a room. Aiden turned around and tried to walk back out the door and Rowan smacked Aiden upside the head with the broom.

"No, I'm not doing this by myself!" he protested.

"Thanks boys," Mom said cheerfully.

I finished setting the table and pulled out another pan and started making some bacon.

"Breakfast for dinner?" Mom laughed.

"It's simple. I don't see how five grown men can seriously eat us out of house and home every time they come over... it's ridiculous."

"I know," she answered, sighing. "But it's our responsibility to make sure they get fed. I don't see how Emily does it with four kids. I know Levi's older now and isn't home as much, but she still has Aiden, Briony, and Sebastian underfoot."

"Sebastian's little, too," I said. "He's what? Four now?"

"Five," Mom corrected me. "I can't believe Briony's already eight. It seems like she was just born yesterday."

I nodded.

"I think Paul is bringing over Rachel and Will and Sarah," she added. "But Rachel mentioned that she was bringing over some food, too. And they're going to pick up Billy for us. I guess the kids are walking."

"Okay," I said.

A knock on the door made me look up. Levi was standing at the door, grinning like a fool. I looked over at Mom and she nodded.

I skipped over to the door and let him in, giving him a big hug.

"Hey, Norie," Levi said, smiling. "What's been up with you lately?"

"Not much. Just cooking for dinner for everyone in town," I laughed. "Are you coming?"

"I think I could be persuaded," he laughed. "What are you making?"

"Breakfast for dinner," I said, shrugging.

"Definitely my favorite. Aubrey is out of town... she went to go see her dad, so I'm free for the evening."

"That's great!" I said, a little too enthusiastically.

"I suppose. I've been needing to ask your advice about something, too," he said quietly. "Could you come outside for a second."

"Sure," I said, intrigued.

We went out to the back porch outside and sat down on the chairs next to the fence overlooking the back yard. Levi suddenly looked serious.

"I'm going to ask Aubrey to marry me," he said, looking down. "And you're the only other girl that I'm really good friends with and I was wondering whether or not you could help me out. I don't know where to do it or how to do it or..." he trailed off, sighing. "I just want it to be perfect."

"You're going to ask her to marry you?" I asked, blinking in shock. I felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach. He couldn't marry Aubrey. He just couldn't. She wasn't right for him. She wasn't perfect enough. I was the one that was made for him and he just couldn't see it... I snapped back to reality, determined to give him some sort of an answer for whatever he had just asked me.

"I guess I just didn't expect you to get married right out of high school," I said.

"Well, we have been dating since the beginning of our junior year... almost two years. The wedding wouldn't be for another year or so..."

"Have you two... you know..." I trailed off awkwardly. I couldn't believe I was asking this. He seemed equally as shocked.

"Well, umn... yes..." he answered sheepishly.

"And would that have any influence on this sudden desire to marry her?" I asked him.

"No," he answered surely. "I love her."

I felt like knives were pressing into my stomach.

"She's not pregnant, is she?" I asked suddenly.

Levi didn't answer right away.

"I didn't come here for insults and to be questioned about our relationship. I came here thinking a friend could suggest a proper way to ask my girlfriend of nearly two years to marry me. Obviously, I came to the wrong person."

"I'm sorry," I answered. "I didn't mean to be rude."

"Well you were," Levi replied. "I'll see you later tonight. I need to go talk to my dad. Perhaps he'll give me some better advice."

"Run to your dad, Levi. That's all you ever do," I snapped bitterly. I got up and glared at him, before running to my room. Mom looked over at me in confusion. I heard her ask Levi something, but I didn't care.

Instead, I slammed my door shut, flung myself on my bed and wept bitterly.

How come I was never going to be good enough for him? How come he was marrying some elfish pixie and didn't care that we had been through more in the past eighteen years than he had ever been with with that stupid girl? I couldn't imagine him making love to her, couldn't imagine him fawning over her, couldn't imagine that he could possibly love her with the same intensity that I loved him. There was no way he could have come up with some fake sort of infatuation that even mimicked the sort of love and respect that I had honestly gotten through eighteen years of friendship with him.

Why didn't he love me instead of her?

I had no honest clue. All I knew was that my heart was broken and I didn't know how to piece it back together and there wasn't a super glue strong enough to keep me from hurting.

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_I know this chapter was sort of short, but I just posted the finale to Jacob's Promise last night and the first chapter to this story today. So hopefully this should be enough to get you guys excited! I know I am!_

_Much love,_  
_xoxo_


	3. Strangers

Chapter 3 - Strangers

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**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight. However, I do own the characters that are not of the original Twilight series, including Norah and Rowan Black, Levi and Aiden Uley, and Charley Clearwater.

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Mom and I decided to fly from Denali to Victoria, British Columbia, take a cab to the ferry from the airport, and then take another cab from Port Angeles to Forks. It sounded like a trip from hell. We packed light. Mom decided that the best solution to get there was to pack light. She promised that we would simply buy a few new outfits once we got to Seattle. So for a permanent move, we brought next to nothing.

Our flight left the Denali Airport at dawn. Mom seemed nervous. She didn't say much until we were already on the plane.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. "You're never this quiet."

"I probably should have told you before we left, Charlotte. But, everyone back home thinks I'm dead."

I froze. "What?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but the reason why people like us exist is because of vampires."

"What the hell?" I asked. "Vampires?"

"_Shhh!_" she hushed me hurriedly. "Not so loud! The reason why you phased is because there are vampires in Denali. They mostly stick to themselves. I knew that there were vampires in Denali, but I thought they migrated. I didn't think they'd actually stick up a permanent residence there..."

I sighed. My mom had officially gone into the loony bin.

"Anyway, there were also vampires in Forks, about fifteen minutes outside of La Push. Our tribe struck up a treaty with them. However, an ally of theirs attacked. I was pregnant with you at the time and I was hurt pretty badly. She told me that she needed me to stay around her to keep from being discovered by one of the other vampires who could trace her by looking into the future. Eventually, she realized that I was too hurt to move and follow her. She was going to kill me, but the other vampires were closing in, so she ran. I pulled myself through the woods and a couple of hours later, one of the nearby Makahs found me. They took care of me and eventually, I decided to leave. One of their tribe members wanted me to stay and marry him. He said that he would claim you as his own, but I knew that my disappearance would draw attention... the pack would look high and low for me and I knew that it was best for your dad and his family if I left."

I froze in shock. This story was simply too crazy to be true.

"Wait... my dad and his family?" I asked, deciding to ignore the bulk of what she said.

"Your dad's name is Jacob Black. He is married and has two children, that I know of. A daughter who is about three years older than you and a son that is a couple of months older than you. I know his daughter's name is Norah, but I don't know what they decided to name the boy."

"How did you meet him?" I asked, frowning.

"We grew up together. Their daughter was conceived under some very odd circumstances. In fact, his wife, Bella, was with a vampire before she married Jacob. Jacob just kinda donated the missing ingredient to give her a child, since they were really good friends and he had always loved her. One thing led to another and Bella realized that she would never be able to raise her daughter with her husband. She fell in love with Jacob, divorced her husband, and then married him." Mom looked a bit uncomfortable. She didn't meet my gaze.

"So how did I come about? If my dad was married to someone else and she was pregnant around the time I was conceived..." Mom wasn't telling me something and I wasn't sure that I wanted to know what exactly she was hiding. She sighed.

"Please don't judge me, Charley. I made some really stupid decisions. I really did care about your dad. And I knew that he wouldn't leave his wife for me. I was a mess. Not only did your dad reject me, but so did my ex-boyfriend. He left me because he fell in love with my cousin. I was hurt and I was upset. I made some really stupid decisions because I was immature and wanted to hurt Jacob for hurting me. I never expected to get pregnant. I had been told that I couldn't have kids. So obviously, I didn't feel the need to use protection. When Jacob found out I was pregnant, it nearly killed him. I told him to move on and let me raise you by myself because I didn't want to tear his family apart. He wanted a part of your life, but I couldn't let him sacrifice his family, Charlotte. I know you're too young to fully understand that, but - "

"No," I interrupted her. "I do understand. What I don't understand is why you would sleep with a married man just because you were upset with him for not wanting to be with you! That's messed up, Mom!" I hissed.

"I'm not standing up and saying that what I did was right. It was wrong. Morally and ethically wrong. And I'll never do it again. We were both drunk that night and I definitely wasn't in control of my actions. But you need to know the truth, Char. You need to know that once we show back up in La Push, everyone is going to be in shock and some pretty heavy emotionally punches are going to be thrown," she said, sighing and looking past me, through the window into the fluffy clouds. The sun was rising and it was beautiful.

"So when we land, where are we going first?" I finally asked her.

"Forks. To see your grandmother and her husband. My dad died of a heart attack right around the time I first phased. I was eighteen. My mom, Sue, remarried Jacob's wife's father. His name is Charlie."

"Charlie?" I asked. "I'm named after my step-mother's dad?" I frowned.

"He's a good man. The best step-father I could ever ask for. He was good to me while I lived in Forks with them for a while. I decided that if you were a boy, I was going to name you Harry after my dad or Charlotte after Charlie, if you were a girl."

"I'm glad I turned out to be a girl," I laughed. "A hairy wolf named Harry?" I suggested, trying to lighten the mood.

"Me, too," Mom said, looking at the time on her cell phone. "I would suggest that we try and get some sleep. Tonight's going to be a big night."

I nodded and looked outside and watched the clouds pass by. I slowly closed my eyes. It had definitely been a long night.

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We got off the plane and got our bags from the baggage checkpoint in the airport. We walked outside and caught a cab.

"I need to go to the ferry," Mom told the cab driver.

"Okay," the cab driver said. "Let's go."

I had never been in a cab before, so the experience was definitely a new one. This cab ride was very short and Mom handed the cab driver a few Canadian dollars upon our arrival at the ferry.

The ferry came a short while later. I expected the trip to be a relatively short one. I was seriously mistaken. The was approximately an hour long and we had nearly nothing to do. I didn't feel like talking to Mom. I didn't want to hear anymore vampire/werewolf/shapeshifter drama. Midway through the ride, it started pouring down rain. By the time we got off the ferry, I was seriously irritated. I just wanted to get wherever we were going and get as far away from my mother as humanly (or wolfily) possible.

We walked until we found another platoon of taxis.

Mom flagged one down. He was some sort of Iranian-American guy with a LONG name.

"We need to go to Forks," she told him seriously.

"Forks?" the cabbie asked in shock. "That's going to be one expensive ride."

"I don't care," Mom said. "I've got the money. We just need to go."

The cab driver looked at Mom and his eyes glanced past her at me. I smiled at him cheerfully.

"Fine," he said. "Just so you know, it's going to be one long trip."

We got into the car and I got a good look at his cabbie license thing. His name was Abdullah El-Mikiah Jabar and he had been a cab driver in the Port Angeles area since 1986. Holy wow. This guy was a lot older than he seemed.

"And just so you know, if you try any funny business, I've got a black belt in karate and I can kick your ass before you can say your whole name," Mom said, a threatening tone to her voice.

_Oh, God, _I thought. _She's seriously lost it._

It took us a whole two and a half hours to get to Forks. I was so sick and tired of being in the stupid car that I didn't know what else to do but beat my head into my hands repeatedly. I didn't want to know anything else about shapeshifters or werewolves or my dad and his family or anything. My mind was on overload and I didn't want to do anymore thinking.

Mom paid the outrageous cab fare and said goodbye to Abdullah El-Mikiah Jabar and we stepped out of the cab in front of a pretty little white house with green shutters. Mom froze in front of it and didn't even step forward or do anything. Her face was tight with emotion and she looked like she was about to cry. Oh, brother. I walked ahead, seeing two men and an older woman in the kitchen through the window. A high chair was set up at one corner of the table and a baby was slamming its spoon on the high chair table in frustration. A younger woman stepped forward and headed to the sink to wash the spoon.

I walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. At the sound, Mom tore herself out of her reverie and hissed at me like an angry cat. "_Charlotte Mae Clearwater! _What did you just _do?_" she snapped.

"I just rang the doorbell," I shrugged.

An older woman opened the door and called behind her.

"I don't know, Seth! Look in the pantry," she said. She finally turned around and looked at me.

"Hi, can I help you?" she asked me.

I didn't answer. I wasn't sure what to say. Finally, I spoke up.

"I'm Charley Clearwater," I said. "Are you Sue?" I asked her.

She took a closer look at me and gasped. She looked up and saw Mom standing on the sidewalk, our bags surrounding her and walked past me, leaving the door wide open. She embraced Mom in a tight hug.

"Impossible..." she whispered. "Leah? You're alive?"

"Yes," Mom answered, her voice breaking. "It's me. I'm alive."

* * *

_I figured that was a good spot to end this. :) Thanks for all of the reviews! Hopefully this chapter was a good one! I figured Charley would have a hard time realizing that a whole other world full of vampires and werewolves and all of that exists. LOL. This chapter was quite a bit of fun to write. :D_

_Thanks for reading and please don't forget to review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	4. Broken

Chapter 4 - Broken

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**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight. Although I do own everything that does not appear or happen in the original series. :)

* * *

A whole two days later and Levi's impending marriage proposal to the stupid blonde bimbo that was Aubrey Miller had not sunken into my head at all. I refused to accept that he would rather be with that stupid girl than me. I deserved him a whole hell of a lot more than she did. I had waited for him a lot longer than she had and I certainly couldn't face the remainder of my years without him. I knew that if Aubrey had her way, I wouldn't be able to be with Levi... and we probably wouldn't even be able to be friends.

I was hell-bent on destroying their relationship. I knew that my mom didn't exactly approve. Dad had already asked me if I wanted him to go and smash Levi's head in and then go talk to Sam. I didn't want either of those two things. I didn't want Levi to know that I was devastated. It would just make things even more awkward than they already were.

I couldn't stand feeling like this. I knew that Dad didn't like seeing me like this. It was just... hard. I didn't know what to do or what to think. All I knew is that I wanted Aubrey to disappear off the face of the planet for my own selfish reasons.

"Norah," Dad said, knocking on my door.

"What?" I asked frustratedly. "I'm getting ready for bed!"

"Can we talk?" he asked me.

"No," I said. "There's nothing to really even talk about."

He opened the door, rolling his eyes.

"Don't feed me one-liners, Norah. I've known that you've liked Levi since you were in diapers. There was this one time, when the two of you were about two years old that we all went fishing. Levi stood on the pier with his parents and the two of you locked eyes and Levi started running in place and jumping up and down, trying to get you to join him. He even gave you his fishing pole. I've known since that day that the two of you were going to wind up together."

"Even if he's proposing to some other girl?" I asked, my voice full of melancholy.

"That girl will never measure up to you, Norie," he said, hugging me. Dad never called me Norie. In fact, he was completely against the name since I was born. I looked up at him in confusion and he simply smiled.

"You're special, Norah. And Levi knows it. Hell, it probably scares the hell out of him."

"I doubt it," I sighed. "Again, if he really cared about me, he wouldn't ask me about proposing to some other girl. It's not fair."

"Life isn't fair. But honestly, he probably just wanted to see how you'd take it. He won't marry that girl."

"And how do you know that?" I asked indignantly.

"I just know. He's not going to marry her. They'll start the wedding preparations and then Aubrey will get possessive and won't want you anywhere near him. That's when the resentment will start in," he said wisely.

"And how do you know all of this?" I asked him warily.

"Because I was in your shoes once," he said, shrugging. "Your mother was married once before, remember. And it didn't work out because her ex-husband tried to keep her away from me. We were best friends and eventually she realized that I was the one that she was meant to be with, not him."

I sighed.

"Hey, Dad?" I asked him suddenly.

"What?" he asked, getting up.

"I love you," I said, giving him a big hug.

"Okay, brat. Now go back to being your crazy teenage self. I probably shouldn't get too used to this, should I?"

"Eh, probably not," I laughed. "Now go away, I need my beauty sleep."

"Fine, but you're already beautiful enough."

"Gosh, Dad," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "You're so cheesy."

"That's me," he said, heading to the door and flipping off the light. "Good night, sweetheart."

* * *

A loud crash woke me up in the middle of the night.

"No, I don't care, Seth! She can take herself and her stupid kid and run straight back up to Denali for all I care!"

"Bella, calm back down, honey, please. You're going to wake up the kids."

"They're fine," Mom said. Her voice sounded emotional.

"She said she was planning on staying gone so she wouldn't have to hurt you guys. But Charlotte, her daughter, phased. She knew that the best thing for her would be to bring her back to La Push. I know you don't agree with that decision..." Uncle Seth sounded upset. He was pleading with Mom.

"She lied and made everyone think she was dead. She didn't have to see Jacob's face every night for years as he mourned his dead child. Now, fifteen years later, she thinks she can come back and tell everyone 'Surprise! I'm alive!' It hasn't been all sunshine and roses while she's been gone in fucking Denali! She took a child from my husband, Seth! And now we're all supposed to be okay with that?"

I gasped. Dad had a kid with another woman? And she was alive after everyone had presumed her dead? What the hell?

I got up and tiptoed over to the door and carefully cracked it open. I saw Rowan looking out his door and his eyes opened wide as we caught eye contact. I put my finger to my lips, telling him to be quiet and looked from my bedroom door to the living room.

Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch and Uncle Seth was standing in front of them, blocking their expressions from my view. Shards of glass from the vase of flowers littered the floor and the flowers lay limply on the rug, having obviously been stomped upon.

"I'm not expecting you to be okay with it, Bella. Hell, I think Leah was stupid for running off the way she did. I haven't seen my sister in fifteen years. We all missed Charley growing up."

"She named her bastard child after my father?" Mom hissed. Oh shit. Tread carefully, Seth, I thought.

"Her name is Charlotte. I don't know who she's named after. But she's a nice girl. She reminds me a lot of Jacob," Uncle Seth offered.

"The only children that will remind anyone of Jacob will be Norah and Rowan," Mom spat. "Not some bastard child that doesn't even know him. Leah was nothing but a conniving woman who got exactly what was coming to her. Why is it that she is still alone? Because she's bitter. I was willing to be nice to her until she got my husband drunk without his knowledge and then took advantage of him. That woman and her daughter are bad influences and they will not be around my children. End of story."

And with that, Mom got up and stepped past Uncle Seth, heading toward the hallway. I hurriedly ran back over to my bed and pulled the covers over my head. What the hell was going on? I had never seen Mom that pissed in my life. Rowan and I had a sister? And Mom didn't want us to know her? And she was in Forks? That obviously wasn't going to happen. Not if I knew Rowan like I thought I did.

____

_Oh shit._

___

* * *

_

Levi showed up at our house the next morning. I was sitting on the front porch, looking out at the woods, hoping some sort of deer or animal would come out and entertain me.

The only thing that came out of the woods was Levi.

I groaned. I didn't want to see his face, particularly after the events of the night before. I had gotten no sleep. Rowan pretty much stayed away from the house. I hadn't talked to him. I knew he was probably busy sorting things out through his own head and I didn't want to interrupt his thought process.

"Norah, she said yes!" Levi said, running toward me, his arms waving wildly above his head. "I'm getting married!"

"Congrats," I said dully. "Forgive me for not being a tad more cheerful."

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Let's see, there's this guy that I'm hung up on who pretty much told me that we're never going to be together and that I need to stop being so hung up on him. And then, the next day, I overhear an argument between my parents and my uncle. Apparently, I have another sister and I'm still awaiting the order from my mom telling me that I'm not allowed to associate with her."

"That _sucks_," Levi said. "I'm sorry. How can I help?"

That was Levi. Always offering to help me and be there for me, even when he was busy exultating his own life-changing news from the highest point in Washington. I didn't answer his question.

"Tell you what. Give me that guy's name, address, and social security number and I'll guarantee that he doesn't walk ever again. Stupid idiot. How could someone turn down someone as great as you?"

"He simply found someone better," I said, shrugging.

"There's not anyone out there that's better than you, Norah," Levi said seriously.

"Take a good, long look at yourself before you say that again," I said, getting up from the porch. "Now that my family's falling apart, I have plenty on my hands other than you. See you later."

And with that, I walked back into the house, leaving Levi standing on the porch, his jaw hitting the concrete. He didn't respond, but merely turned around and headed back to his house, walking slowly and dejectedly, his hands in his pockets.

* * *

_Yet another chapter finished! Yay! I thought the end was pretty sad. :(_

_But yay for Bella, sticking up for herself and her family! _

_Thanks for reading! Please review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	5. Streetlights

Chapter 5 - Streetlights

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight. However, I do own the characters that are not of the original Twilight series, including Norah and Rowan Black, Levi and Aiden Uley, and Charley Clearwater.

* * *

It was strange, walking onto the reservation for the first time. Mom decided to stay behind in Forks and my mom's brother, Seth, was the one who took me onto the reservation for the first time.

"Bella wasn't too happy with the fact that your mom lied to everyone," Seth said.

"Technically she didn't lie. She just didn't want to be found. She didn't consciously tell a lie," I said. I couldn't believe that I was still taking up for my mom's actions. But in all honesty, I could see why she did what she did.

"I know that she didn't _technically_ tell a lie. Look, Charley. Your mom is my sister. I'm always going to love her and even though she's a little older than me, I'm always going to protect her. She's a good person, deep down. She just made some mistakes down the line. We all do."

"Who're they?" I asked, nodding to some kids that looked to be around my age. Three boys and a girl. They were sitting on a couple of benches near the front of the reservation, looking bored.

"The girl is Sarah. She'd be your cousin, I guess. She's Jacob's older sister's daughter. The boy sitting next to her is Will, her twin brother. The boy sitting behind Sarah is Aiden. He's your mom's second cousin's son. And the boy sitting next to him is Rowan. He'd be your... well, your brother. Jacob's son."

"He doesn't look anything like me," I said, folding my arms.

"He favors his mother a lot. He has her hair. And a lighter skin tone than you. But I think you two have the same eyes," he said, looking at me as if to size me up. "Jacob's eyes."

We drove further into the reservation and parked the car.

"Hey Seth," a guy said, waving at my uncle. "What's been up with you?"

"Not much, Levi," Seth said, shrugging. "This is my niece, Charlotte."

The girl standing next to Levi smiled at me. She was white. I was shocked. She seemed to be the only white person on the whole reservation. Everyone else had darker skin. She was obviously tan, but in the fake-baked sort of way. Her hair was a dirty-blonde and her eyes were a bright blue. She was thin and short. Very short. I towered over her, feeling like some sort of giant.

"Hi, I'm Levi's fiancée, Aubrey," she said, extending her hand.

I took it, trying not to laugh. This little _squink_ of a girl was with a Quileute guy? Seriously?

"You two finally decided to make it official?" Seth asked, his eyebrows raised.

"I figured it was about time. I mean, no time better than the present, right?" the guy said.

"You two are just a bit... young. I mean, Heather and I just made things official last year and I turned thirty right before Kiley was born..."

"Well, didn't Jake and Bella get married at like twenty-one?" Aubrey asked. "And Bella was married once before, right? Their daughter... what's her name? Norah? Didn't she have her when she was just a little bit older than us?"

"You two aren't seriously considering having a baby right away, are you?" I asked, aghast. "I mean, aren't there things that the two of you want to do first? Get a career? Go to college?"

"Well, I work at the tribal center," Aubrey said. "And Levi works from place to place, doing different things for the tribal elders. Mostly building things."

"A white girl works at the tribal center?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

"I think I've been here a lot longer than you have," Aubrey said. "Just because your parents are Quileute doesn't mean that you can walk up on this reservation, acting like you own the place."

"Aubrey!" Levi said, chastizing her.

"Nah, don't even worry about it," I said, shrugging. "Obviously the little pale-face takes offense. They're all the same."

"Charley, get back in the truck," Seth said, his eyes narrowed at me.

I sighed and got back into the vehicle, rolling my eyes. I didn't like that girl at all. It wasn't the fact that she was white. It was the fact that she was obviously stuck on herself. Poor guy... I couldn't even imagine being stuck with someone like that the rest of my life.

Seth got back into the truck and glared at me.

"The way to make friends on this reservation isn't to get in debates and arguments and to call people that you don't even know names. God, you're so much like your mother."

"Excuse me?" I said. "The last time I checked, I wasn't the one who got knocked up with a married man's baby. So don't you dare compare me to my mother again."

I got back out of the truck and slammed the door, walking down the road.

I heard Seth sigh and get back out of the truck, following me.

"Charley, where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"Wherever this road takes me!" I retorted back.

I heard Seth mutter a curse word and he started walking quickly.

I turned around the corner, passing up a general store, and ran smack dab into a girl who was getting into her car.

"I'm sorry!" I said, helping her back up.

"You're fine, you're fine," she said. "I haven't seen you around here before..." she trailed off.

"I'm Charley Clearwater. My mom and I just got back in town."

The sun was setting and the streetlight above the car lit up and illuminated the beat-up red Volkswagon Rabbit she was driving.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"Norah Black," she said, tucking her long black hair behind her ear. "You wouldn't happen to be Leah Clearwater's daughter, would you?"

"Yeah," I said. "And you must be Jacob's daughter."

"Have you met my dad yet?" she asked. _She must already know. The Blacks must already know Mom and I are in town_, I thought.

"No," I said.

"Get in the car," she said, looking up. I turned around and saw Seth coming around the corner of the store, looking for me. I jumped into the passenger seat of the Rabbit and Norah drove off, leaving Seth behind looking completely befuddled.

"You know you're my sister, don't you?" Norah asked, turning around the corner.

"That much I figured. I knew Jacob had a daughter named Norah. But I didn't even know my dad was alive until four days ago."

Norah's jaw dropped. "Are you serious? Why didn't your mom tell you?"

"It was easier, I guess. She said that it was... complicated," I sighed.

"It would have had to have been complicated, since you were conceived after my parents had already gotten married. I don't know the story, so that's not what I can give you. What I can do for you is introduce you to our dad."

My jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?"

"He's a good dad. The best. I can't imagine not having him around. He's really been a big help to me the last couple of years. Especially with the whole boy thing."

I laughed.

"Speaking of boys, I saw a couple of them earlier. Rowan, he's your little brother, right?"

"Yeah, he's a handful. Drives me crazy the majority of the time, but there's nothing I'd change about him," she laughed, changing the gear of the car. She slowed down and turned around another corner.

"Is your mom home?" I asked her. "I don't want to cause problems," I mumbled.

"Don't worry about it," Norah said, pulling into the driveway. "Just sit tight and I'll be right back."

She got out of the car before I could say anything. I groaned as she slammed the car door shut and skipped up the stairs on the front porch hurriedly.

I sat in the car, unable to move. My heart was pounding in my chest. What if my dad didn't want anything to do with me? What if he didn't want the drama that was me and my mom? What if my mom was a part of his life that he wanted to forget about? I remembered Mom saying that my dad had wanted a part of my life, but she had tried to talk him out of it because she didn't want to tear apart his family. Was that what I was doing right now? Tearing apart his family by getting in a car with his daughter, having a conversation with her, and then coming to his _house_ to meet him? My stomach was queasy and I wasn't sure of the answer to that question. I didn't want to make life worse for my dad. But I wanted to know him. I wanted to have a family like what Norah and Rowan had. Obviously their parents both loved them very much. Rowan seemed to have friends, family... I remembered him sitting on the bench earlier that day, laughing with his friends. I never had that in Denali. Had my mom never faked her death and never took to me to Denali, had this could have been what I could have had?

I didn't know the answer to that question, but I knew I wanted it more than anything.

* * *

_Another chapter finito! I'm pumping them out like crazy! Geesh... _

_I guess that's what I get for being ridiculously bored all day long. haha. :)_

_Thanks for reading and please don't forget to review! I've been sitting here refreshing my inbox like crazy. LOL._

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	6. Card Games

Chapter 6 - Card Games

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Nope, once again, I don't own Twilight. But I do own everything that's not in the original series and everything that's not canon. :) Thanks!

* * *

Dad was sitting in the living room with Rowan, playing a card game, when I walked inside. I sat my car keys down on the table and both of them looked up at me.

"Mom's not home, is she?" I asked.

"No, she went to go take Emily some soup or something," Rowan said, putting down a set of threes. "Your turn."

"Well, Dad, I kinda brought you a surprise," I began awkwardly.

"Is it a puppy?" Rowan crowed. "Please, say it's a puppy!"

"You better not have brought home another animal, Norah," Dad said seriously.

"No, she's not an animal. But I did pick her up on the side of the road," I said, shrugging. "She says she knows you."

"What?" he asked, frowning.

"Her name is Charley," I said.

Dad's jaw dropped. "How the hell did she get to the reservation?" he growled.

"Seth," I said, picking my keys back up. "I was going to go take her back to Grandpa's, but..."

"Stop it right there," Dad said. I'd never seen him this serious. "Your mother will have a heart attack if she comes home to this."

"Dad, that's not fair. She's our sister. Shouldn't we have a say in whether we have a relationship with her or not?"

"Yeah!" Rowan piped up.

"Okay, that's really not necessary," I said, looking under Dad's shoulder at him.

"Sorry," he said.

"I know what you're saying, but your mother and I haven't even had the chance to discuss this privately. I just found out she existed last night. I haven't even had the time to digest any of this. I thought she was dead, Norah. I never even dreamed that I'd have the chance to meet her."

"She's sitting right outside, Dad," I said, my voice on the edge of tears. "Just go outside and talk to her for a second. It's all she's ever wanted. She even looks like you. A little bit. She has your eyes. And your cheeks..."

Dad sighed. "Come on, Norah," he said. He turned around quickly. "Rowan, stay right here. Don't you dare move."

"But, I want to meet her, too!" he cried.

"The fewer people that know about this, the better. Just trust me. You'll get to meet her soon enough. I promise."

"Okay," Rowan said, sighing.

I headed outside and saw Charley staring anxiously at the front door. I locked eyes with her and she bit her bottom lip.

Dad walked around to the passenger-side door while I got back into the driver's seat.

"Hey there," he said nervously. He gave a slight wave.

"Hi," Charley said softly. "So you must be Jacob Black."

"And you must be Charlotte Clearwater."

"I prefer Charley. Mom just calls me Char mostly."

"I like that," Dad said, smiling at her. "You should come out to the reservation more. There's a lot of kids here your age."

"I noticed," Charley said. "I like her though," she said, nodding toward me. I ducked my head.

"Now don't be trying to get on my good side," I joked. "Rowan hasn't even earned that privelege yet."

"Seriously," Dad said. "He hasn't."

Charley smiled, the first true smile I'd seen on her face.

"I should probably get going. I don't want you guys to get in trouble for me being here. We sort of ditched Uncle Seth back at the general store up the road."

"Wait a second," Dad said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a piece of paper and leaned in and grabbed a pen out of the glovebox. He wrote down his cell phone number on it and handed it to Charley.

"You need anything at all, then call me. I don't care if it's 9 o'clock in the morning or 2 o'clock in the afternoon or 3 a.m. If you need me, then call. You don't know how much this means to me... getting to see your face and knowing that you're here." I knew Dad was about to get emotional.

"You'll be back, won't you, Char?" I asked her.

"Of course," she said, grinning. "I like you guys. Like I said, I just don't want Bella to get upset with me being here and all. I don't want to mess things up for you guys..."

"I know," Dad said. "And I'll talk to Bella about it when she gets back tonight. Things will be okay, Charlotte. I promise."

She smiled a radiant smile once again. For the first time, she looked like she felt at home. Something about that made me really happy... for the first time since I found out that Levi and Aubrey were getting married.

"We should probably get going. I'm going to take you back to Forks, Charley," I told her.

"Thanks," she said, nodding.

"I guess it's the best I can do as your big sister," I grinned. "That, and you've got a lot of teasing that you need to undergo to be in the same boat as Rowan..." I trailed off.

She grinned wickedly. "I don't know," she said. "I can come back with some of my own!"

* * *

It was after I dropped Charley back off at Grandpa's that I really started thinking. Life was full of chances. A quick draw was all that it took to make a difference between something really wonderful and a missed opportunity.

I drove back home in silence, thinking. My parents had an epic love story... well, as close to it could come to one happening in real life, at any rate. Had the tables turned and had Mom never left her ex-husband, Dad could have ended up with Leah Clearwater, instead. Rowan and I would have never been born and Charley would have been Charlotte Black, the legitimate daughter from a very real and very _intact_ household.

The revelation shook me. Life was just a gamble, much like a card game. Sometimes people won and sometimes people lost. Charley seemed like one of those who lost more often than it seemed fair. Maybe it was her turn to win a few times.

I sighed, turning from the main road of the reservation onto the gravel road we lived on. I passed up the Uleys' and Grandpa Billy's before swerving off the road into a ditch. Aiden Uley was running through the streets, looking lost and confused.

I stuck my head out the window worriedly.

"Aiden, what's going on?" I asked him. "Are you alright?"

"Levi's gone," he choked. "Dad and Jacob and Embry went out to look for him."

I climbed out of my car, leaving it in the ditch and pulled Aiden close to me, embracing him.

"Where did he go?" I asked. "What happened?"

"He was on the phone with Aubrey and she told him something, I guess. He came back out of his room and slammed the door and ran outside. Dad followed him, but he yelled something about being lied to... I don't know who would have lied to him, Norah, but it didn't sound good. Mom pulled the three of us back into their bedroom and turned on the TV. Dad came back in, saying that Levi had disappeared."

"How the heck did he just _disappear?_" I asked. "Levi's not like that! He was supposed to be marrying Aubrey. Why would he just... leave?"

"I don't know," Aiden shrugged, his eyes red and blotchy. "What if he never comes back?"

"Don't think like that," I snapped, a little harsher than I intended. "Levi will come back. He's not the type to leave... he loves this reservation and the people on it. He loves you and your brother and your sister. He didn't leave."

I looked up and saw Emily standing on our front porch.

"Norah, Aiden," she said, looking worried. "Please come back inside. It's not safe to be out right now."

Not safe? What did she mean? The reservation was the safest place around. Was Levi in danger by being out? Had something happened to him? My mind went into overdrive as Aiden took my hand and led me back into the house.

Mom, Rowan, Briony, and Sebastian were sitting around the kitchen table.

"Where were you?" Mom asked, her face looking rather stoic and serious.

"I went out. I took a friend home," I said. It wasn't a lie. Charley was a friend... sort of.

"Something has happened," she said, not even focusing on my lie. She folded her hands.

"Aiden said that Levi disappeared," I said, trying to keep the frantic tremor out of my voice.

"Your dad just called and he said that they lost track of Levi somewhere along the edge of the reservation. They can't follow him anymore."

"Why can't they _follow_ him?" I gasped. "That's their responsibility! Levi's only eighteen!"

"Sometimes there are only so many things we can do, Norah. I suppose Levi doesn't want to be found," Emily said, her voice cracking. Tears were swimming in her eyes and I knew she was on the verge of breaking down.

"What do you mean, doesn't want to be found?" I snapped. "Of course he wants to be found! He's supposed to be getting _married!_ To Aubrey! Remember?"

"You don't think he ran off with her, do you?" Briony interjected. "How romantic..."

"Briony Autumn!" Emily snapped at her daughter. "Don't even suggest something like that!"

I held back my tears. Had Levi really run off with Aubrey, without even saying goodbye? Had he really cared for me that little? Did my feelings really not matter to him that much, so much that he would just run from the reservation without even acknowledging them? That he would pick a flimsy blonde bimbo pixie rather than me, the one person who loved him more than even he knew?

I headed into my room, determined not to let anyone see me cry.

* * *

_Yay! Chapter done!_

_What is going on with Levi? Hmn... only time will tell!_

_Please don't forget to review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	7. Shadows

Chapter 7 - Shadows

* * *

**Disclaimer: **If I owned the Twilight Saga, I'd be rich. Unfortunately, I'm not. But I do own this trilogy and all original characters not in the original series. :D

* * *

The last few days, I'd practiced phasing. Mom said that it was important that I learn how to phase back out, to avoid the hysteria I'd subjected myself to the first time I'd done it. I saw her point. But upon crossing the banks of First Beach in the wee morning hours, I realized something. I was the only white wolf in the entire freaking area.

Obviously, white wolves were indigenous to Alaska, upper Canada, and Greenland or something. They didn't exist in Washington. So obviously, I was an anomaly. Go figure. Not only was I an anomaly in my own biological family - having a whore for a mother can't make you _that _popular - but I was an anomaly in the sense that there were no wolves that looked like me anywhere around. To put it bluntly, I stuck out.

I headed back into the woods. I liked the fact that I could run faster than anything I'd ever seen. I felt like white lightning... fast and furious. I continued pouncing through the woods, until I collided face-first with something big, black, and _warm._

Another wolf.

_Who are you?_ a somewhat familiar voice asked. The wolf's eyes were big and brown. They also showed fright. The whites of the wolf's eyes were prominent, his hackles raised, his tail tucked between his legs.

_Who are _you_? _I asked uneasily.

_I'm a Quileute, from the reservation. How come I can talk to you and nothing else? This is so _weird_..._

_I'm Charlotte, _I said, not really expecting that to help things.

_And are you human, normally? _the wolf asked.

_Yes,_ I answered. _What's your name?_

_Levi._

Levi? I wondered aloud. Levi, the guy that was with the blonde bimbo pixie girl? The white girl?

_I can hear your thoughts, _Levi said uncomfortably. _And my __fiancée is definitely not a bimbo. _His voice grew to become a little defensive.

_Sorry, _I said, sighing. _Forgot that you could hear that part._

_Obviously. So do you care to explain to me why we're both ginormous wolves and not human? I mean, how did this happen? _His frantic demeanor had returned. I sighed.

_I don't know. Mom said something about us being called shapeshifters in the form of werewolves._

_I'm a _werewolf_? _Levi howled miserably. _You mean I'm going to have to live like this for the rest of my life? Every single full moon? Like legend and folk lore and all of that? Noooo..._

_That's not what I said,_ I snapped. God, he was impossible. _Mom said that we were created to destroy vampires. But she said that there had to be a vampire around for the frenzy to begin... I don't really know what that means for you. I don't know why you changed. That doesn't make any sense._

_I don't care if it makes sense or not. What I do care about is getting back into my own body! _Levi was on the verge of hyperventilating. _My __fiancée is not going to want to marry a freakin' DOG! _

_She should care enough about you to accept you no matter what,_ I sighed. _And Mom said that we're not allowed to tell others about us. It's a huge secret on the reservation. She expressly forbid me to tell anyone. You can't tell anyone about this. She said it was an Alpha command, passed down through the last pack._

_What the hell is an "Alpha command?" _Levi asked.

_Hell if I know. All I know is that my dad is the Alpha from the other pack. And he doesn't know that I'm a wolf. Mom hasn't told him yet. I don't think my parents have seen each other in the fifteen years since I've been alive._

_Sorry,_ Levi said gruffly.

_It's fine. I'm used to it,_ I replied dismissively.

_Levi Joshua Uley! How DARE you run off like that? Do you realize how much of a panic your mother's been in?_

FUCK.

_I've got to go, _I told Levi quickly. _I don't want my dad to find out like this. Mom was going to tell him._

_Wait, _Levi exclaimed. _Let me come with you!_

_You can't,_ I said, turning to run. I turned around and started to run, before realizing that I was closed in.

_Wait! _the russett-brown wolf commanded.

I tried to move, but I couldn't. I began to panic, hyperventilating.

_Who are you? _he asked. I tried to read his thoughts, his actions, trying to figure out if he already knew.

_Let me go!_ I told him. _Please._

_Charlotte,_ he said, obviously blowing his cover. I could hear some rustling in the woods. When I looked back over, Levi Uley had phased back and was sitting next to his dad, looking rather shaken.

_You already know, _I told him. _So just let me leave._

_I can't,_ he sighed. _This is a matter of the pack's security. You need to come back to the reservation, Charlotte._

_It's four in the morning,_ I snapped. _I'm not going anywhere with you. Respect is a right that has to be earned. And last time I checked, you checked out of my life fifteen years ago._

His thoughts coveyed hurt and dismay and he stumbled backward.

_Go to the reservation._

My feet wouldn't listen to my brain and I found myself walking. I couldn't stop myself - it was like I couldn't control my own body.

I briefly looked behind me and saw Levi and his dad walking through the woods, clad in only shorts. Jacob Black was right behind me, his eyes focused on my every move. One other wolf was ahead of us and another behind. There was no escape.

I didn't know how I ended up in this situation. All I knew was that, for a moment, I wished I was the little Eskimo girl back in Alaska. At least there, I knew my position. Here, I knew nothing at all.

* * *

Jacob Black was my biological father. And yet, I had never really seen him show much emotion. I mean, other than the fact that he nearly cried when we first met. That was weird. No one had ever cried over me before. Well, other than my mom when I told her that I was getting made fun of in Denali. I guess that was because she knew how it felt. I'm not really sure.

The one thing I was sure of is that I got my, umn... well, _uniqueness_ honestly. I always thought my mom was some sort of freakshow for mourning my dead father for years and years and never getting married. And then, at fifteen years old, I found out that he was actually alive. Then, I found out that he was a dog. And that mom was a dog. And that _I _was a dog.

My family should totally go on Maury. Or Jerry Springer or something like that. But we're probably too messed up for that.

At any rate, Jacob seemed to be pissed when he met me and Levi in the tribal center. I didn't ask how he got the keys at five in the morning. It made no sense. Yet, nothing in my life seemed to make sense as of late.

"Obviously, we have a bit of a problem," he said, shutting the door and turning to face us. He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at the two of us. "Seems as if there's vampires in the area again. Obviously, that's what caused Levi here to phase." He looked pained. "The pair of you won't be the last. A frenzy is going to occur and I'd wouldn't be surprised that by the end of the summer, all of the boys on the reservation have phased."

"All of the _boys?_" I asked, confused. "I'm not a boy."

"Charley, your mom was the first female wolf in history. You've got wolf blood through both sides. So does Will, my nephew. But the true Alpha, following in the steps of history, after me and my grandfather, will be Rowan."

I digested this information slowly.

"Not me?" I asked him.

"The Alpha can only be male," Jacob said. "At least, that's what everything seems to suggest. Your mother was second-in-command in my pack. As members defected, I took over Sam's pack and my own. He decided to live a normal life. I envy him."

"Why can't you?" Levi asked. "Live like my parents."

"Because. Bella has vampires looking for her. They haven't found her yet, but they will in time. She has to be immortal for them to leave her alone. The closest thing to immortality is this long, drawn out life we have. I didn't realize it at the time, but Bella isn't aging. The tribal members have been trying to find a cause for this. My sister, Rachel, isn't aging either. And neither is Sam's wife, Heather. Something is going on with the women of the wolves in this pack and we have no idea what it is."

"Bella's not aging?" Levi asked. "That's really creepy."

"I'd shut it if I were you," Jacob snapped. "Neither are the two of you. Ever wonder why the two of you look like you're in your mid-twenties instead of gangly teenagers?"

I froze. Mom _had_ mentioned something about my outrageous growth spurt over the past few months.

"That's why Leah, Rachel, Heather, and Bella look like they're not a day over twenty-five?" Levi asked, frowning.

"I don't know what it is," Jacob replied, looking frustrated. "Not that I mind if it means I can have my wife forever, but it seems like as long as we keep phasing, they don't age, either. Sam thinks it has to do with a mutation in the cycle, somewhere along the line. Something to do with imprinting. Then again, Leah is a wolf, so that explains it on her side... and it also explains why Embry's wife _is _aging. Don't tell anyone I told you this, but the only reason Embry even got married is because his girlfriend-at-the-time got knocked up."

Levi glared at Jacob.

"You do realize you're talking about my _fiancée's mother, _right?" he asked, obviously offended. "My future mother-in-law."

"You won't marry Aubrey," Jacob retorted.

"How is it that you think you can decide whom I will and won't marry?" Levi said, his voice getting a bit louder. "That is _my_ decision. You may be the Alpha of this pack, but I don't have to follow your rules when it comes to _that_."

Jacob glared right back at Levi before responding.

"Take one look at my daughter and you'll know what I've known for years."

I knew Jacob wasn't talking about me. He'd never called me his daughter... I was just the mistake from a night of drunken sex.

Levi eventually looked away and looked at the floor.

"You two need to get to bed. Meet me back here at noon. That's an order." We both got up, Levi burning a hole in Jacob's head with the intensity of his staring.

"By the way, Charlotte. I think I'll need to have a talk with your mother, soon. It's been avoided long enough."

* * *

_Yay! Longer chapter! This is my favorite one so far, I think. :D_

_Please read and review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	8. Apologies

Chapter 8 - Apologies

* * *

I woke up at five-thirty in the morning to hear something tapping outside my window. Stupid birds. A goldfinch had nested outside of my window and the baby birds had been keeping me up for several nights in a row.

I sighed in frustration and got up to do something about the stupid birds. I wrapped my blanket around me and stepped over to the window to shut it. A tall, dark shadow was standing outside of the window and hunkered down at the last second.

I jumped backward.

"Norah!" the shadow whispered.

I pulled back my curtain nervously to see Levi hunkered down near the bottom of my window. He looked like a fool.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, not wanting to see him. What was he here for? To throw something else in my face? To tell me that he and his stupid fiancée had eloped?

"Let me come inside," he hissed. "Please."

"I can't," I said, folding my arms.

"Please, Norah," he said.

I looked around outside and back toward the hallway to see if anyone was coming. I opened the screen to the window and Levi crawled inside.

"Be careful! The baby birds!" I hissed.

"Yeah, I know," he replied. "They're annoying."

Two seconds later, Levi was standing in my room. I turned the lamp on and turned to face him. He was staring at me with a strange look in his eye. I didn't like him staring at me like that. It made me nervous and anxious.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, not wanting to talk to him. I had cried myself to sleep over this guy and he was standing in my bedroom at the crack of dawn. I had no idea what he was thinking or what he was doing or what on earth could have possibly made him think it would be a great idea to jump through my window at five-thirty in the morning.

He took a few steps closer to me, biting the inside of his cheek and frowning.

I stepped backward and sat on my bed. He sat down next to me.

"Where have you been?" I finally asked.

"Out," he said. "Aubrey pissed me off and I was angry."

"She made you mad, so you ran off?" I asked incredulously.

"She told me that she doesn't want me to see you anymore," he said heavily. "And I told her that I can't do that. You're my best friend, Norah."

"Well, you don't want to do anything that upsets your future _wife_," I said, my voice sardonic.

"I don't know if I want to marry someone who tells me who I can and can't be friends with," he said quietly. I noticed that he was getting closer and closer to me. For some reason, I wasn't pulling away. I should have pulled away. I should have. But I wasn't. And I didn't.

"I don't know if I want to marry her at all," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Levi's lips pressed against mine, warm and unfamiliar. And against all reason, against all of the promises I had made myself over the past few days, I found myself kissing him back, even though I knew it would hurt me in the end.

And I found myself fast-forwarding to the possible life we could have had together... had he chosen _me_ instead of Aubrey. Me in a huge, white wedding dress, dancing with him at our wedding. Little Quileute kids running around the reservation. Us living in Grandpa Billy's house, rocking a baby in a bedroom, Levi's arms wrapped around me tightly...

My thoughts were interrupted as he pushed me down onto the bed and against all reason, I found myself pulling him closer to me, wrapped in the thoughts of what could be and what I wanted this to be. Was he choosing me instead of Aubrey? Just because she told him that he couldn't be friends with me? Had he finally realized that he didn't want to live without me?

He pulled away, breathing hard.

"You shouldn't do this," I found myself saying, putting my hand on his chest in case he decided to do something else just as rash and irresponsible. "You know it's going to hurt me in the end. You're getting married and you already made that decision. You've already asked her and she's already agreed. You've bought the ring and it's on her finger and she's already paraded it through town. Although I don't like it at all, you love her. Not me. So we can't do this."

"I'm sorry," he said, as the realization of what he had just done crashed upon him. "I shouldn't have done that. We're friends." He got back up, shaking his head.

And as he apologized for kissing me, I felt some sort of loss. It would never happen again. The next person he would kiss would be Aubrey, not me.

I heard the front door open and close and then my dad's voice.

"Bella, honey, are you awake?" I heard Dad ask.

"She's taking a nap," I heard Emily say. "Did you find Levi?"

"We did. He phased," Dad said. I heard his footsteps walk closer.

Levi looked at me in horror. I got up from my awkward position on the bed and rushed over and turned off the lamp.

"Go, hide in my closet," I hissed. Levi obeyed, looking rather confused.

I shut the closet door quickly, making sure he couldn't be seen. And then, I rushed back over to my bed, hopped in it, and pulled the blanket up off of the floor and around me. Two seconds later, my bedroom door opened.

"Norah?" Dad said, pulling the blanket away from my face. I pretended to be groggy and tired.

"Hmn... wha...?" I yawned.

"We found Levi," he said. "He was in the woods."

I pretended to look surprised.

"Why was he in the woods?" I asked. The intrigue on my face was real this time. What was phasing? I realized that was the second time someone had used that word in the past few days. The first time, it was in reference to Charlotte. And now Levi? What was going on?

"I'm guessing he just had a fight with his girlfriend or something," Dad said. For some reason, I didn't think he was telling the truth. I knew that Aubrey and Levi had had a fight, but that wouldn't have caused Levi to run off into the woods for hours on end. And how come he didn't mention this _phasing_ thing?

"Oh," I said, nodding. "Well, it's good that he's been found. "Where did he go?" I asked.

"I assume he's going back to his house. Sam said he'd be waiting for him there," he replied.

I yawned exaggeratedly. "Are Emily and the kids still here?"

"Yeah," Dad said. "I think Emily will probably take them back home here in a couple of hours. Aiden and Rowan are sleeping in the bunkbeds in Rowan's room. And Briony's sleeping on an air mattress in the middle of the living room floor. Emily and Sebastian took the couch."

"Okay," I replied. "I'm gonna get some sleep. I haven't gotten much. I was waiting for news on Levi."

"I know," Dad said, kissing the top of my head. "I'm gonna go wake your mom up and tell her the news. Get some sleep and breakfast will be up before you know it."

"Mhmn hmn," I groaned, turning back over and drawing the blankets up close to me again.

Dad got up and patted my back before walking back out the door. He closed it behind him and I jumped up and tiptoed back over to the closet.

"You've got to leave," I hissed at Levi. "The entire reservation is going to be looking at you before you know it!"

"I'm sorry," Levi murmured. "You were really up and waiting for me?" he asked, his eyes shining like a two-year-old's on Christmas.

"Shut it," I said. "Save that look for your fiancée," I snapped. I pulled him out of the closet and shoved him back toward the window.

"I love you, Norah," Levi replied.

"Are you _drunk?_" I hissed. "First of all, don't say that to a girl unless you mean it. Secondly, don't kiss someone without their permission. And thirdly, don't do it behind your fiancée's back!"

"I know I hurt you, but I'm going to make it all back up to you," he promised. "I swear, Norah."

"Don't do this," I said, shoving him out the window. "Please, Levi. Don't break my heart again."

I slammed the window shut.

Dad came running back in.

"What was that?" he asked, his voice frantic.

"Levi's being a jerk," I said. "He tried to get me to let him in here to talk to me. I don't want to talk to him. I don't want to see his face ever again."

And with that, I dissolved into tears, not caring if Dad saw me cry or not.

He looked uncomfortable at seeing me upset.

"Bella!" he called. "I think this one's your job!"

"I think I just need to be alone," I said, sitting down on my bed and dissolving into tears.

Dad shook his head and turned my lamp on and kissed me on the top of my head.

"Let us know if you need anything," he said, sighing.

I hated what Levi was doing to me. As much as I had wanted him to kiss me, when the time came, it hurt even more. Because this time, he was engaged to marry someone else. I was hurt and _mad_. How _dare_ he come into my bedroom and kiss me, only to go back to that pixie bimbo? I hated him. I didn't want to see his face again. He took advantage of my feelings.

There was no way Levi loved me with the same intensity I loved him... was there?

* * *

_This chapter is dedicated to **Jess **(aka cowgirl137), who talked to me the other day about window-climbing. Jake and Bells live in a one-story house, so window-CLIMBING doesn't exactly work in this case. lol._

_Thanks for reading and please review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	9. Zenith

Chapter 9 - Zenith

* * *

**Disclaimer: **If I owned the Twilight Saga, I'd be rich. Unfortunately, I'm not. But I do own this trilogy and all original characters not in the original series. :D

* * *

"You got caught?" Mom was pissed. "I never told you that you could go back to the reservation unattended!" Okay, pissed was an understatement. Mom was _furious._

"How was I supposed to know that Levi Uley had phased?" I asked. "I can't exactly practice phasing through Forks, can I?"

"You could have picked the woods _anywhere_ but in La Push," Mom argued. "And now you're telling me that I have to go back to La Push for the first time in fifteen years to go see your _father_ whom I haven't seen since right before Irina attacked?"

"I guess so," I said, crossing my arms. "It's your fault, anyway! Had you gone back to the reservation after that vampire was dead, then I could have had a chance at a normal life! Not one where I was continuously made fun of back in Denali!"

Mom glared at me.

"Don't even suggest that this is _my_ fault, Charlotte." She looked at the clock hanging above the kitchen stove. It said 10:00 am.

"Give her a break," Seth said, walking through the front door. He had his eight-month-old daughter, Kiley, in his arms. My cousin. I still hadn't gotten used to the fact that I had cousins, let alone a sister and a brother.

"I've got to go get ready," Mom huffed.

"Hey, I've got a question!" I asked suddenly. "If I put on make-up and then phase, will my wolf be wearing lipstick?"

"Trying to look nice for Levi?" Seth laughed. "I think he's a little too old for you. And he's your Alpha."

"No I'm not," I protested. "And he isn't!"

"What do you mean, he isn't?" Seth frowned. "He's male and he's older than you."

"Doesn't matter. I phased first," I said defiantly.

Seth smiled slightly, setting Kiley in her play pen. She immediately started screaming.

"Kiley Olivia Clearwater," Seth said, putting his hands on his hips. "Stop it."

"I don't think she's going to stop just because you say so," I sighed. "She's not a wolf."

"So, I heard what happened last night," he said seriously. "You got caught by Jacob, Sam, Quil_ and _Embry? Damn."

"It's just because Levi decided to up and phase for no reason," I grumbled.

"It's not like he had a choice," Seth protested. "Just like you didn't."

I didn't have anything to say for once. I just sighed and looked at the floor.

A loud banging at the door caused us both to jump. Seth went to answer it and I went over to the play pen to play with Kiley.

"Hey, Uncle Seth. Is Grandpa Charlie here?" a voice asked. I turned around and saw Jacob's son, Rowan, standing on the front porch. Hmn... interesting.

"He's upstairs with Mom sorting through some stuff for Leah and Charlotte," he said.

"Is Charlotte here?" Rowan asked, walking through the door.

"What?" I asked, standing up.

"Hi!" Rowan said excitedly. "I'm Rowan. I'm fifteen. I'm your brother."

His strange introduction aside, I felt slightly uncomfortable. Even more so when Mom came out of the bathroom, her hair wet and a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth.

"You must be Charlotte's mom," Rowan said, sticking his hand out to shake hers. My eyebrows raised. This kid sure did have a magnetic personality.

"Rowan, does your father know you're here?" Mom asked carefully.

"Mom said that I could go visit Grandpa Charlie," Rowan shrugged. "I guess she forgot that the two of you were here or something."

Mom rolled her eyes before heading back to the bathroom. "Bella Swan never forgets. She pretends to."

The antagonism between my parents was driving me crazy. Rowan looked uncomfortable for a second.

"We're about to leave here in a few minutes," I said quietly. "Jacob wants us to meet him at the reservation to talk about some stuff."

"Oh," Rowan said. He paused for a second before eye-balling me. "Why do you call Dad 'Jacob' instead of 'Dad'?"

"Jacob hasn't been there for me for the past fifteen years like he has for you," I sighed. "The title of 'dad' has to be earned."

I headed into the upstairs bedroom that my mom and I shared and got dressed. When I came back down, Rowan was sitting on the couch. He didn't look at me.

* * *

Walking back onto the reservation with my mom in tow was a lot more nerve-wracking than I thought it'd be, especially because of the looks we received. Hushed whispered followed us as we walked to the tribal center.

When we got inside, it was five past noon. Jacob was sitting in the hallway at the front of the tribal center; his eyes narrowed when he focused them on my mom.

"Jacob," Mom said, nodding to him.

"Leah," Jacob said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Charlotte, do you mind giving us a moment alone?"

"Umn, where do you want me to go?" I asked.

"You can just... sit here," he said, pointing to a chair next to the door.

I nodded.

Mom followed Jacob into a nearby office and the door closed. I got up from the chair and snuck closer to the door.

"Why did you leave?" he asked suddenly. "You had me thinking that you and our daughter were _dead_ for _fifteen years!_"

"Don't yell at me," Mom replied. "It was what was best for you and for us. Do you honestly think I wanted our child to grow up second-best to your kids? Do you think I wanted to sit tight, waiting for you to love me like you love Bella? The best thing for _all_ of us to do was leave. Irina just gave me the opportunity. She attacked me and if it wasn't for the nearby Makah family that lives on the border, then I probably _would_ have died."

"I guess it didn't occur to you that I'd have to grieve over the child I lost. I grieved for our child for years and years, thinking that she was _dead!_ And then, you knew there were vampires in Denali! You could have given Charlotte a way out of this, had you moved to where there were NO vampires! And you didn't! Damn it, Leah!" A loud crash resounded as something hit the floor. I jumped.

"She doesn't even call me Dad. She doesn't know me. And that's _your _fault, Leah."

"I know," Leah said. "The decision I made still kills me, Jake. But honestly, what choice did we have? Did you want me to constantly interfere in your marriage because I had your KID? Did you want Bella to look at Charlotte like she was the one _problem_ that existed on the reservation? I didn't want that for my child, Jacob. I wanted her to grow up being loved and cherished like she deserved. Even if it was only by one parent. Jacob, I am _so_ sorry for what I put you through. I knew it was going to hurt. Hell, I went without seeing my family and my little brother for fifteen years. I came back and Seth's got a _wife_ and a _BABY._"

"Because of what you did, Charlotte and I are _never_ going to have a relationship like what Norah and Rowan and I have. That could have happened, Leah! She could have had a father, but you took that chance away from her! God, I mean, what kind of person does that? What kind of person just lets everyone think they're dead for fifteen years and takes someone else's baby with them?"

"I'm sorry for what I put you through, Jacob, but I'm not sorry for taking Charley away from this reservation. She had a chance at a normal life! And maybe, unlike the rest of the people here, she'll realize that she has the chance to get out and get away from here."

"Why didn't you tell me she was a wolf?" Jacob asked quietly.

"It just happened the other day," Mom said. "Some kids were making fun of her and throwing things at her and she just phased on the fly."

"Why is it that I always have to find out everything by myself?" Jacob asked. "I had to find out that my daughter was alive by myself and then I had to find out that she was a WOLF by myself! Seriously, Leah!"

"She's going to hear you if you keep it up," Mom interjected.

"And then maybe she'll realize how _selfish_ her mother is!" Jacob yelled.

"You think I did all of this for me?" Mom was positively screaming now. "YOU THINK I EXILED MYSELF TO FUCKING DENALI, ALASKA FOR ME? I did it for my DAUGHTER! And that's something that you'll never be able to understand!"

"Keep yelling, Leah. Wait until Bella comes out here and catches your ass on the reservation," Jacob replied.

"Is that a threat?" Mom murmured.

"No, Leah. It's a promise."

I jumped back into my seat, pretending that I hadn't heard a thing. Mom stormed out of the door.

"Come on, Charlotte. We're going back home," she snapped.

"No, you're not. Stop it right there."

Jacob was standing in the hallway, his hands on his hips, looking rather pissed off.

Mom couldn't move. She was frozen in place. Her legs were locked and she turned around and glared at Jacob, her eyes narrowed.

"I need to talk to _our_ daughter alone," Jacob replied.

"The hell you do!" Mom snapped.

"Come on, Charlotte," Jacob said, opening up the office door. I sighed and walked into the office. Jacob shut the door behind me.

"Just to clarify things, I've already had this conversation with Levi. As my daughter, you are automatically in a higher pack ranking than Levi, even though he is older than you. We've never had a female Alpha and we don't even know if that's possible. Rowan is supposed to be Alpha, but he hasn't phased yet."

"What are you saying?" I snapped.

"I'm saying that this is dangerous. I don't know who's supposed to be Alpha. Levi because of his age, you because of your ancestry and the fact that you phased first, or Rowan because that's what we all thought. I thought Rowan was going to be Alpha, but compared to him, your personality is a lot more... Alpha-like. You're a lot more dominant than either Levi or Rowan."

"Well, maybe you won't have to worry about it. Looks like you've pissed my mom off enough... she's probably not even going to want to stay in Forks," I replied.

"You can't leave, Charlotte. You can't. You can't do that to the pack and most importantly, you can't do that to _me._" He seemed upset. "I know that I haven't been able to be a father to you, but I want that opportunity. I've talked to Bella and although she isn't happy about this situation, she knows it's not your fault. We decided that we wanted you to come to the house and have dinner with us. I mean, if you're comfortable with that and all."

"When?" I asked, looking down at my feet.

"Tomorrow night?" he asked.

"Sure," I found myself saying before I could even think about the consequences.

"Great," Jacob said.

"I've got to go. Things are already hard enough right now. I'm sure Mom wants to get back home, too."

He simply nodded.

"Wait," he said at the last second.

"What?" I asked impatiently.

"I just want to say that, well... you are a beautiful wolf. We've never had a white one on the reservation before. You were positively beautiful last night."

I blushed.

"Go ahead," he sighed. "Your mother's waiting."

I headed back out to the foyer of the tribal center and Mom and I walked outside. She was pissed. I could tell. She was quiet the entire way home.

My parents' conversation kept playing over and over in my head until we walked into the house. A strange car was parked out front. An older-model Mercedes-Benz. I didn't know anyone with a car like that.

We walked inside and Bella Black was sitting on our couch, her big brown eyes glaring marvolently at Mom.

Fantastic.

* * *

_Close to another chapter... here comes the showdown! hehe._

_Thanks for reading; please review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	10. Rivalry

Chapter 10 - Rivalry

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Nope, once again, I don't own Twilight. But I do own everything that's not in the original series and everything that's not canon. :) Thanks!

**A/N: **This chapter isn't really perfect, but I didn't update yesterday, so I'm updating today... :)

* * *

Mom saw Bella sitting on the couch and walked through the living room, into the kitchen.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Bella asked, following her into the kitchen.

"You're here to see your dad, right?" Mom asked, going over to get a glass of water from the kitchen sink. "Before we left, they were downstairs, looking for some stuff for Charlotte. We left most of our stuff back in Denali."

"Excuse me," Bella said, placing her hands on her hips and standing in front of the kitchen doorway, "but I'm not looking for Charlie. I'm looking for you."

Mom kind of blinked at Bella before sighing.

"Look, I know you're mad at me, but it's been years, Bella. I know I screwed a lot of stuff up, but I've become a better person over the years. I've become self-sufficient... for my daughter."

"Stop playing the guilt card!" Bella said frustratedly. "You slept with my husband on purpose. You got him wasted and then took advantage of him! You admitted it! And then, you turned around and skipped town, pregnant with my husband's child! You screwed up everything, Leah!"

"Oh, yes. I forgot," Mom said, setting down her glass. "I'm responsible for every last thing that has gone wrong in your marriage, even though I've been gone for fifteen years. I've already explained myself to Jacob, Bella. I certainly don't need to explain my actions to you."

"Then tell me why you named your kid after my dad," Bella said, crossing her arms.

"That's yet another decision of mine that doesn't need to concern you!" Mom snapped. "But if you're that damn insistent, I lived here while I was pregnant with my daughter and your dad was good to me. He stepped up and filled the role that I lost when my dad died of a heart attack. A heart attack that my brother and I caused. Stop putting your nose in my business."

"My husband is my business!" Bella crowed. "And you so very kindly inserted your claws into him."

"No, the last time I checked, he inserted himself into me," Mom said.

_Ewww... gross. _I tried to get the mental picture out of my head.

"You are an evil, conniving _bitch_," Bella snapped."Just because you're cold, lonely and bitter doesn't mean you can ruin other people's lives!"

"You see, that's where you're wrong," Mom shrugged. "I got past this a long time ago. I moved on with my child. The only reason why I came back here was for _her_. She needs her family... and her dad. Like it or not, she's a wolf. Unlike your daughter. Your daughter is never going to be a wolf. She's going to be a perfectly normal human. She'll probably find herself with Sam's kid and she'll grow up being just as _normal_ as ever. Unlike your daughter, my daughter is going to need her dad in a certain way. She's going to need him to show her what the pack is like, show her how it works... that's something I can't do and something your daughter's never going to need to learn."

I was confused. Why did Mom think that Norah was never going to phase? I knew I was just an anomaly, but it could happen to her, too, right? I mean, sure I was a good four or five inches taller than she was...

"My daughter has wolf-blood on BOTH sides of her ancestry. Unlike your kids, she's the _first_ FULL wolf, conceived between two wolf parents. Deep down, you know that drives you crazy. You know that there's nothing you can do about it. And you're afraid that my daughter is going to one-up your son for Alpha. Admit it!"

"My husband never moved on," Bella said flatly, ignoring Mom's whole wolf-schpeal. "You may have moved on with your kid in Alaska, but he's spent the last fifteen years blaming himself for not saving your ass. There was _nothing_ I could do about that. I had to see my husband suffer, see him go crazy trying to protect our kids. What you did affected him a whole hell of a lot more than what you know."

"Again, I already apologized. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life apologizing for a stupid decision I made."

"That _decision_ screwed life up for a whole lot of people, Leah!" Bella yelled.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't yell at me," Mom said sweetly.

"And I'd appreciate it if you'd stop acting like you did _nothing wrong!_" Bella yelled.

It was my turn to step in.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Black," I said.

Both Mom and Bella turned to stare at me.

"Look, I know things are really messed up, but I really do want to know my dad. I know that history hasn't been nice to anyone around here and that a lot of people did things to mess things up for everyone. But at the end of the day, aren't Rowan and Norah and I most important? We don't want to be caught up in a huge family feud. We just want to be _normal, _even if it's only for a little while. I just want a family. And I want you to be part of that family... if you want to. I'm not trying to take anything away from Norah and Rowan... I just want to know them. I want to have a _whole_ family. I've never had that."

"Charley, I don't want to be a step-mother to anyone," Bella said, looking uncomfortable. "I'm sure you're a sweet girl, but that's not what I want for my life."

"You know you're being hypocritical, right?" Mom snapped."Wasn't Edward going to be a step-father to Norah? Oh, I forgot. He was going to be her actual _dad_. You were going to do the same thing I did... cut Jacob out of Norah's life completely. I haven't forgotten. You almost did the same thing I did. The only difference was that I had the balls to go through with it because it was actually the right thing to do."

"Can you guys please just stop arguing... for the three of us?" I finally asked. "I mean, I'm sick and tired of avoiding my own brother and sister just because the two of you have decided to be _stupid._"

"Charlotte, for once in your life, can you please just _shut up_?_"_ Mom asked, annoyed.

"I'm sick of the fighting and the arguing!" I said, louder this time. "I want to have a relationship with my siblings! I'm sick and tired of being all alone! I was all alone in Denali and I won't have the same thing happen here. You said we were moving here so I could have a support system and this is the support system I want! I want Norah and Rowan!"

"Norah doesn't even know about the whole wolf thing, dear," Bella said. "And it's against Alpha command for her to know. Not unless one of the wolves imprints on her. And then he has to be the one to tell her."

"But Jacob said Rowan would phase... eventually. He would be part of my support system. And Levi. And Will, when he phases. I'm sick of the stupid bullshit!" I said, putting my hands on my hips. I was finally putting my foot down.

"Watch your mouth," Mom said, glaring at me.

"Fine," Bella said suddenly. "For the kids, Leah, but not for you. You definitely don't deserve my forgiveness but my kids deserve to have a relationship with their sister, regardless of what a cold, heartless _bitch_ their mother is. And your daughter deserves to have a relationship with her dad. I'm not going to be the person to stop her. But _you_ don't deserve to have a relationship with anyone, Leah. You can continue being bitter and cold and a bitch and eventually, you're going to wake up one day, realizing that everyone hates you and there's nothing you can do about it because you already used up all of your chances."

Bella walked out of the kitchen and out the front door without a backwards glance.

"I don't hate you," I told Mom. "I don't think anyone, outside of Bella Black hates you. Sure, we all make mistakes, but you did everything you did for me."

"You're the best daughter a mother could ever ask for," Mom said, wrapping her arms around me. "I'm so sorry I've messed everything up for you," she sobbed.

"You haven't. You're my mom," I shrugged. "And for that, I'll always love you."

Mom wiped away the tears from her eyes. I couldn't tell if they were from emotion or just pure frustration. But the one thing I hoped was that this was the final showdown between my mom and Bella Black. I didn't want there to be any more drama related to my homecoming. It was something I had wished for my entire life and now that it was here, it was more stressful than I ever could have imagined.

* * *

Later that night, I went to the beach again, simply to let the craziness of the day pass away. I relaxed in the cold, muddy waters of the Pacific, letting the tide ebb and flow beneath me.

I looked up and saw something in the water, shiny and dark. At first I thought it was some sort of dead animal or something. I lunged back in disgust.

I turned around and saw Levi's fiancée walking toward the beach. I frowned. It was well after dark and she was alone.

The ocean breeze blew in with the tide and a horrible stench came up from the ocean. It was sickening sweet and smelled like some sort of floral crap. My nose started burning uncontrollably.

Aubrey was still walking toward the ocean, her head held high, her shoulder-length blonde hair flying back from her face in the breeze.

I turned and saw the dark figure come up from the ocean. It was a woman, her hair soaking wet, her teeth brilliant as pearls, her eyes red as rubies, her skin darker than teak... I shivered unvoluntarily.

_Back away, back away, Aubrey..._ I thought, cowering down.

But Aubrey wasn't backing away. She was walking toward the mysterious figure.

"Izel!" she called aloud.

The woman from the water stepped out and toward Aubrey.

"Your father wouldn't be happy about this," the woman said. She had a strange accent, one I had never heard before. It sounded South American... perhaps Brazilian? Or Colombian?

"I know," said Aubrey, sighing. "But it's happened. It's not safe for me to be here."

"And it's not safe for you to be with us," the woman hissed. "You're a human. Your father has just been changed... your mother thinks he's dead. It's not the right time!"

I knew it was time to step in. I looked up and saw Levi coming up from the opposite shore. He was low to the ground, seeming ready to pounce.

_Levi, _I called, trying to get his attention.

_That's a vampire. It has to be. It's burning my nose! _His eyes were fixated on it. _And Aubrey's too close to it! Get her away from it, Charley!_

I snuck up to it and broke out into a run. The _thing_ looked up at me, shocked at the last possible second. It's arm, not as hard as I expected it to be, pushed me away at the last second before diving back into the ocean.

Aubrey screamed bloody-murder as Levi chased the vampire thing back into the water, swimming away futily, trying to catch it.

_Levi! _I snapped. _Get out of that water!_

Levi sighed and came back out, rolling his eyes.

The porch light on Embry's house flicked on and Aubrey's mother, a very short woman with porcelain skin and white-blonde hair came running out. She saw us standing near Aubrey, who had somehow passed out in the middle of the beach.

"Wolves!" she screamed.

Embry ran out behind her and behind his tiny wife, he made a motion, signaling us to run.

_You go that way_, I told Levi, nodding toward his parents' house. _And I'll run through the woods._

_No one's gonna try to catch us... except for the people who don't know, _Levi said as he obeyed without question.

I ran like crazy, back toward the only place I knew was safe... Jacob's house.

* * *

_End of another chapter... it was a bit longer than the other's, but I had a hard time wrapping up the beach scene... :(_

_Thanks for reading! Please review! Reviews make me happy and make me want to write more chapters and get them uploaded. ;)_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	11. Truth

Chapter 11 - Truth

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Nope, once again, I don't own Twilight. But I do own everything that's not in the original series and everything that's not canon. :) Thanks!

* * *

Someone was pounding on the door.

I heard footsteps echo down the hall, growing louder and louder and the softer again as someone rushed past my door. I jumped out of bed and pulled my blanket around me, shivering against the cold. I cracked open my door to see Dad opening the front door. Charley was standing at the front door, a frightened look on her face.

"Jacob, we were spotted," she said quickly, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. Her hair was soaking wet, dripping on the door mat.

"Jacob, who is it?" I heard Mom call from their bedroom.

"It's Charlotte," Dad replied.

"Please don't make me leave," Charley begged. "There's a vampire outside."

_Vampire? _What the hell was she talking about?

"Are you sure?" Dad asked her. Maybe Charley was sick or something. But then again, Dad wasn't feeling her forehead or looking at her like he thought she was crazy. He looked like he believed her. The weirdest thing about it all was that he didn't even question her crazy theory.

"It had darker skin, but it was pretty solid and smelled like... _flowers_ drenched in _ammonia_ or something." She wriggled her nose in disgust. "It was female. And her name was Izel. Levi's bimbo girlfriend person was talking to her... like she knew her or something. But her mom came out and saw us running over to it and screamed and then her husband came out. In the chaos, the vampire or whatever it was ran off."

"Aubrey was _talking_ to it?" Dad asked, looking shocked. "But if it was a vampire, wouldn't it have taken her?"

"I don't know," Charley said, shrugging. "She mentioned something about Aubrey's dad being alive."

At that, I jumped, stumping my toe on the bottom of the door. Dad and Charley both whirled around as Mom came walking past my door. She had a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants in her arms.

"Honey, put some warm clothes on," she said. "You can't be comfortable standing there in soaking wet clothes. These are fresh out of the dryer."

"Thanks, Mrs. Black," Charley said gratefully.

"Bella," Mom corrected her. She took her hand and led her into the hallway bathroom. Dad followed them and I tried to quietly close my door. He stopped in front of my bedroom and suddenly pushed the door open, hitting me in the face with it.

"Ow!" I cried out in pain.

"Norah Jane Black," he said, looking frustrated. "Sit down."

I walked back over to my bed and sat down on it. He took a seat next to me.

"How much did you hear?" he asked.

"Is Charley going to be alright?" I asked. "Did she like, hit her head or something?"

Dad sighed.

"No one is supposed to know this. I'm the Alpha, so I'm willing to bend the rules, just this once."

What the hell? What was he talking about? _Alpha?_

"I'm pretty sure Charley mentioned something about a vampire in there and everyone knows there's no such thing as vampires," I said matter-of-factly. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Norah - "

"I just don't want her to continue living some fantasy - "

"Norah Jane - "

"Because we all know how dangerous and unhealthy that is. She's my little sister, so of course I'm going to worry about her - "

"NORAH!"

I froze.

"What?"

"There _was_ a vampire in La Push tonight," Dad said slowly. "What she's saying makes sense. I just don't know why it didn't attack Aubrey."

"You mean that some corpse that rises during the night to drink the blood of the living had a chance to get that hair-brained frizzy goody-two-shoed girl out of my hair and it _passed up the opportunity?_" Hell, I didn't care that my dad had just told me that vampires existed. I just wanted to know why it didn't do me a favor and get _her _out of my way.

"Not exactly," he sighed. "Vampires that frequent this area don't just rise at night. They rise during the day, usually. Well, they don't exactly _rise_ at all. It's more like they never go to sleep. It's _OUR_ job to keep them in check."

"How is it our job?" I asked. "If a vampire is going to drink my blood, then how am I going to stop it? Wave my magic wand and do the mambo?"

"Not your job. My job. Charlotte's job. Levi's job. Quil, Embry, Seth, Paul, and Leah's jobs, too."

"That's right," I sighed dramatically. "Becuase my dad, sister, wanna-be boyfriend, and four uncles are totally going to gang up on vampires."

"Ganging up isn't necessary. Norah, we're werewolves."

I just stared at him, completely speechless. _Werewolves? _He had to be joking.

It was then that I started laughing.

"Okay," I said. "You win. Let me guess. This was some sort of joke that you and Charley concocted to get back at me for bringing her over here the other day. I'm sorry. Now, can we go and cook breakfast and pretend that you never decided to do this?" I tried to get up, but he pushed me back down.

"Norah, I'm telling you the truth," he said. "We can turn into wolves. Levi was the newest person to phase... the night before last. And he won't be the last one, either."

I froze. He'd used the word. _Phasing. _I'd heard it several times before, not quite understanding what it meant or what he meant by it.

"Norah?" Dad asked, looking worried.

"Levi didn't mention when he was here that he had phased or whatever. He didn't _tell _me that he could turn into a WOLF. He would have told me something that important," I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

"He couldn't," said Dad, putting one of his hands on my shoulder. "I gave a command that none of the wolves can tell anyone that there are vampires and werewolves running around the reservation. Can you imagine the panic that would cause? Charlotte already saw Embry's wife's reaction to the fact that they tried to storm the vampire. Fortunately, she didn't see the vampire or Embry would have already been up here throwing a fit."

I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say.

"There's more," Dad said, sighing.

"What?" I asked, afraid to know.

"We're not aging," he said slowly. "Ever wonder why we look a lot younger than most of your friends' parents?" he asked.

"Well, I - I - thought, umn, that it was good genes or something, you know," I stammered.

"Nope. Norah, I'm thirty-six years old but I look ten years younger than I am. "Your mother will be pushing forty pretty soon. She'll be thirty-nine in September. Yet she looks like she's your age."

"I know that," I snapped, unable to take in all of this information. "So you're telling me that in fifteen years, when I'm in my thirties, I'll have to come up with some excuse as to why my _parents_ look like my _kids?_"

"I don't think that's going to happen," Dad said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked incredulously. "One thing typically leads to another and eventually I'm going to be an old lady and my own _parents _are going to look like they're the same age as my _grandchildren!_"

"Norah," Dad said, waving his hand in front of my face, attempting to get my attention.

"_What?_" I exclaimed.

"That won't happen if Levi imprints on you," he said, looking smug.

"If he _whats _on me?" I asked, temporarily forgetting that I never wanted to see Levi Uley's face again.

"Imprinting. It's how wolves find their mates. They mate for life... in our case, indefinitely or until a wolf stops phasing and starts aging again."

"What are you saying?" I said, afraid to even ask.

"I'm saying that I think Levi's avoiding you because he's scared. I know he was in your closet the other night. And he's been avoiding this house like the plague ever since."

"Thanks, Dad, really. Just what I needed to know. Levi is avoiding me because I have something in common with the bubonic plague. Thanks a whole - " I froze again, feeling as though I'd been electrocuted by lightning.

"Does this imprint thing mean that he has to dump his pixie girl or something?" I asked. "Not that it matters, but I always thought he could do better. I don't want anything to do with Levi, not after his stupid stunt the other night."

Dad had a smirk on his face.

"Sure, he's going to fight it. He's already fighting it. And obviously, because you're mad at him, you're not going to make it easy. You're both stubborn mules. He gets it from his dad and _you_ definitely get it from your mom. Did I ever tell you how long it took me to convince her to marry me? We didn't get married until you were almost three years old."

"Yes, I'm aware of that fact," I said irritably. "Does that mean that Levi's wolf thing has huge ears or something?"

Dad smirked. "Okay, Miss Sarcastic. Get up and get dressed. I'm sure Charlotte's going to want some company. Your mother's probably already shoveling food down her throat. Your Grandma Sue already called and said that Leah and Charley were eating them out of house and home. After you get dressed, wake your brother up."

"Do I have to?" I whined, knowing what a stubborn sleeper Rowan was.

"I give you full permission to douse him with ice-cold water if he refuses to get up," Dad said, winking.

I jumped up and ran straight to the kitchen. Mom leaned up against the countertop, her hands on her hips, a small smile playing about her lips.

"I said IF he doesn't wake up!" Dad said hastily. It didn't matter. I was already running down the hallway with a huge bucket of ice-water over my head, Charley laughing hysterically behind me.

* * *

_Capitulo once es terminado! Yes, me and my horrible Spanish. lol._

_So, since you finished reading my _wonderful_ chapter (gives bow and pats self on back), you should make me _REALLY_ happy and give me a review! Tell me your favorite thing about this chapter, what you're looking forward to, what I should do next, improvements to the plot or whatever else, or just tell me how fantabulously awesome I am for giving you guys _ELEVEN_ chapters in _SIX DAYS_. ROFL. I'm so modest. And I'm just kidding. I'm really not one of those crazy conceited people... I'm just regurgitating what you guys keep telling me and it may be giving me a bit of an abnormally large head. lol, jk. I just wish I knew what you guys liked and didn't like so much when it comes to what I write so I can tailor it better to my readers. It's because of you guys that I sit here and type away at 7:00 am._

_Btw, I hope all of my fellow American readers had a great 4th of July. I know mine was... eventful to say the least! Happy birthday, America!_

_I love you guys._  
_xoxo_


	12. Denial

Chapter 12 - Denial

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Nope, once again, I don't own Twilight. But I do own everything that's not in the original series and everything that's not canon. :) Thanks!

* * *

I couldn't get that stupid vampire out of my head.

I had been walking around constantly, not sure of what to do about it. I wasn't sure if I should confront Blondie about the vampire she was talking to, ask her about her dad and how long she had known he was alive, or just slap her for being stupid. Or maybe all three.

I was sitting on the Blacks' front porch, my head resting on my hands. I was so tired, but I didn't really want to go back to my grandparents' house. I just wished that I had someone to talk to. I really didn't feel comfortable talking to my brother and sister, considering I barely knew them and they knew absolutely nothing about me or vampires or... well, quite frankly, they didn't know much about anything going on, period.

I looked up to see a lime-green, boxed-shaped Kia slowly pass by the house. It slowed down and came to a stop. The driver's-side window rolled down and a tiny blonde stuck her head out.

"Charlotte?" she called.

I froze. It was the Blonde Bimbo.

"What?" I asked her, not stepping off of the porch.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked. "Come here."

I sighed. She really couldn't hurt me; I was almost a whole foot taller than her. I got out of the chair and slowly walked toward her, my arms folded tightly across my chest.

"What?" I asked, not caring if I sounded rude or not.

"Are you staying with your dad now or something?" Pixie Girl asked, looking up toward the house.

"No," I said. "I just don't want to go home."

"Well, I know you need some clothes. The women in that house are a lot smaller than you are."

"Are you calling me fat?" I growled, placing my hands on my hips. I started to seethe with anger, my hands shaking. _Calm down, Charley,_ I thought, sighing.

_"No!_" Pipsqueak said, smiling apologetically. "Look, I just know that there's a clothing fund for Quileute's at the tribal center where I work if you need clothes. Levi mentioned something to me about you moving here and he said that your mom might not have a lot of money to get you everything you need and - "

"I'm fine," I said, not wanting to be around this bitch for any significant amount of time. I had much better things to do with my time. Besides, she didn't realize how little I actually wore my clothes anyways. Wait... that came out wrong. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks.

"Okay," Midget said, sighing. "You know where I live if you change your mind. I've got to get to work." And with a single wave of her hand, she rolled the window back up and drove away.

I groaned and headed back up to the front porch. Stupid girl.

_"Psstt!"_

I turned around suddenly to see Levi standing near the end of the Blacks' propery, trying (and obviously failing) to remin incognito and unseen.

"What the - " I started aloud.

"Shhh!" he said, his eyes wide and flashing to the door behind me. I groaned and got up and walked over to him.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"Trying to figure out what's going on with your sister," he said, looking over my shoulder toward the house.

"And why is that?" I sighed, my thoughts still on my pack-mate's obviously wayward fiancée.

"I made a huge mistake and I tried calling over there to talk to her, but she won't have anything to do with me. She's told her parents not to put her through to me and she won't talk to me and she won't even come outside." He looked depressed. "I miss her."

I was confused. "What did you do to her?" I asked him. "I thought the two of you were best friends... completely inseparable."

"We were. Until I was a dumbass and kissed her the other night."

My eyes popped open in shock. "You _what?"_

Levi didn't even look ashamed. "I don't know how to explain it. I mean, yeah, I love Aubrey. But the last couple of days, I haven't been able to stop thinking about Norah. I mean, I love my fiancée, but I'm second-guessing everything. Norah is my best friend and the last couple of days, I haven't been able to focus on anything that isn't related to her. Has she mentioned anything about what happened the other night?"

"What the hell did you do?" I asked, blinking stupidly. "Kiss and run?"

"_No,_" he insisted. "I mean, yes, I kissed her, but she's the one that pushed me back out the window - "

"The _window?_" I asked, aghast. "Why the window?"

"'Cause I climbed through it," Levi said, looking at me like I was stupid. "I shouldn't even be saying this to you. Forget it." He turned around and started walking away.

"Wait," I said, grabbing his arm.

"What?" he snapped. For a brief second, I could visibly see the turmoil going through his head; it was evident in his eyes and the pained expression twisting his face.

"Do you love my sister?" I asked him.

"Of course I do," he said without hesitating. "She's my best friend."

"No," I said firmly, stopping him and pushing him backward into a tree. "Are you _in love _with my _sister?_" I asked, pulling the syllables apart slowly so he didn't miss the difference between the two questions.

"It doesn't matter," Levi said, shrugging wearily. "I'm getting married to Aubrey. I - I love her."

I pushed him away, disgusted.

"So you not only kiss my sister, but you climb in through her bedroom window - "

"Well, I kinda _hobbled _in, really. I mean, it's on the first - "

"And then," I plowed on resilently, "you come crying to me about how she's been avoiding you, deny that you're in love with her - "

"Wait!" Levi exclaimed. "You've got - "

"And then," I bellowed, "you say that you're going back to your little pixie girl!" I finished. "You're _so_ STUPID!"

Levi's reaction to my screaming actually surprised me. He simply slumped down the tree, pulled up a patch of grass and threw it down at the ground.

"You're right; I am. I love Aubrey, really, I do. But I don't know... after the phase, I felt this inexplicable need to be near Norah, to tell her what's going on. And when I got there, I just couldn't. I mean, I tried, but I couldn't get the words to come out. But I couldn't ignore the fact that I felt like I needed to protect her, to keep her safe from everything and for an instant, I did want to be with her. It almost felt like, I don't know, _gravity _shifted or something. And before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing her.

But it doesn't matter what I did or what I said, Charley. I love my fiancée. I'm going to marry her and we're going to live out our lives together. That's the way it should be and that's the way it's going to be. I'm not going back on my promise."

"What part of _protecting her_ are you doing when you're going to be the one to break her heart, Levi?" I asked him slowly. "She cares about you. Hell, she loves you! It's obvious. Everyone's noticed it. Even your girlfriend. I overheard her tell you that she doesn't want you to be around Norah. Do you really want a relationship like that? A _marriage _like that? Can you imagine seeing Norah Black walking down the aisle with someone else in five years?"

His face strickened.

"I didn't think so," I replied.

"It's not that easy," he said. "She won't even talk to me."

"So what?" I said. "You can't make the effort to fix that? A friendship you've had for eighteen years isn't worth more to you than a relationship of two years when you're not even in love with your girlfriend?"

"Will you stop saying that?" Levi hissed.

"I mean, come on. The sex can't possibly be _that_ good."

Levi's jaw dropped.

"I mean, that is, unless it's the only sex you've ever experienced. I mean, sure, my sister is probably virginal and a bit more awkward, but I'm sure she has the potential to be a nice roll in the hay."

Levi's face was turning purple.

"SHUT UP!" he roared.

"Don't come asking for my advice, then," I said coolly. "Especially if you're going to hurt my sister in the end. Because you may be my pack-mate, Levi, but you don't have to be my friend. Oh, and by the way, as your Alpha, I'm commanding you to find out where your future father-in-law is. Because I have a feeling that a vampire's daughter shouldn't marry a werewolf."

"You're not the Alpha," Levi snarled.

"Really?" I asked sweetly. "Could have fooled me. You've been following my orders without question for the last couple of days. Might as well continue."

And with that, I stalked back off toward the house, furious at the teenage boy standing right behind me and whose jaw I was pretty sure sweeping the ground.

* * *

_Again, I know this is sort of short, but I didn't want too much going on in this chapter. :) _

_Thanks for your reviews! They seriously made me smile and now my heads got all sorts of gears turning for this story. Some of you actually were thinking along the same lines as I was, but a few others were definitely new ideas that I'm not sure if I'll use yet or not. lol._

_Btw, **mizzymarii**__ really made me laugh. I don't think I'm going to do another sequel after this because I'm not quite sure where it's gonna end up. I mean, there are only so many things I can do with this and if I keep going too far, then it might not be considered an actual fan fiction if the majority of the characters are original. So I don't know. I'll keep the option open, I suppose, but I really don't know. I've been wanting to do a Glee fanfic for a while, too. Finn/Rachel. I might do that after I get done with this. I'm not really sure yet. But then again, that will probably be when the new season comes up. At any rate, this story is just getting started and I'm not ready to start thinking about after it's finished!_

_Once again, thanks for reading!_

_Review question: Who do you like better? Charlotte or Norah? Why?_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	13. Walls

Chapter 13 - Walls

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Nope, once again, I don't own Twilight. But I do own everything that's not in the original series and everything that's not canon. :) Thanks!

* * *

The next few days, I walked around feeling completely hollow, as if someone had ripped a piece of my heart out. I couldn't help it. I missed my best friend more than ever.

My dad's sudden revelation to the fact that werewolves and vampires were running around rampant in the La Push/Forks area hadn't had as much of an effect on my day-to-day life as I thought it would have. Other than the fact that it had completely taken one of the most important people in my life away from me. I realized that my dad had always been part the craziness and it really hadn't had much of an effect on me. Just when the guy I thought was the love of my life had jumped in... that's when the effect really become noticeable.

My thoughts were running together and the tears began to fall. I ducked into a small wooded area near the beach and sat down, wrapping my arms around my knees and hiding my face.

I didn't know how long I had been sitting there, looking like a fool and crying my eyes out.

"Norah?"

I didn't even bother to look up. That voice was too much for me to hear, too much for me to even try to comprehend.

His warms hands rested on my knees and I felt his weight shift as he knelt down in front of me.

"Norah..."

"Leave me alone," I heard myself say.

"I can't," he said, his head resting on my knees. "Norie, please..."

"Just go away!" I said, this time with more force.

"No." His voice was barely above a whisper, his breath barely an inch above my ear.

I looked up and Levi's face was barely an inch away from mine. I could feel his breath on my cheek and it made me dizzy. His eyes were twinkling somehow and I could see my own reflection in them. I looked horrible... my face was blotchy and tear-streaked.

"Why are you here?" I finally asked him, feeling the familiar achiness in my throat and the full feeling in my eyes; I knew I was about to burst into tears again. I willed myself not to.

"Because I hate seeing you hurting," he said. "And I miss you. I can't stay away from you, Norah. I meant what I told you, in your room. I love you."

"But you can't love me and then marry someone else," I said, my voice constricted.

"I'm not," he whispered, his forehead touching mine. He tucked a piece of my long black hair out of my face and behind one of my ears.

"Does she know that?" I asked him.

"Do you love me?" he asked in return.

My heart thudded still.

"I don't know," I said finally, my head returning to my knees. He put his hand under my chin and his nose touched mine, nudging my face up only slightly. His lips were only a fraction of an inch from mine and my mind clouded. "Yes."

His lips drew only slightly closer. I could feel his warm breath and suddenly, I wasn't so cold anymore. His arms wrapped around me, warming me against the cold Pacific night.

I finally gave in, letting out a breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding. When tried to inhale, I realized that Levi's lips were pressed against mine. I didn't even try to fight it. My hands reached up from around my legs and I pulled him closer, trying to fill the void he had left in my heart. I couldn't breathe; I couldn't think of the ramifications this moment would have... When Levi's lips finally left mine, all I could feel was a sense of loss.

"Norah," he said, looking back at me.

I leaned in once more, kissing him deeply. I initiated the contact for the first time, surprising him. He didn't seem unhappy about it; to the contrary, he leaned forward, pushing me down to the floor of the forest, his lips never disconnecting from mine. Our movements became synchronized, our breathing hitched up to a whole new level. His lips moved from mine to my neck, where he suckled the skin there, causing my entire body to light aflame.

"Levi," I moaned, not even embarrassed in the slightest. The sound of his name coming from my lips seemed to spur him on. He gasped, pressing his hips into my core, eliciting an unfamiliar wetness there.

"God, you smell so good," he groaned, thrusting into me a second time. His hands trailed from my sides, downward, his fingers dipping just under the band of my panties. I froze.

"What?" he asked, moving to look at me.

I quickly pushed him off. "What are we _doing? _We shouldn't be doing this," I said quickly. "You can't do this. You're engaged to be married and she loves you." I self-consciously pulled my clothes back into place.

"Aubrey doesn't love me," Levi disagreed, shaking his head. "There are fundamental differences between the two of us that pretty much mean we will never be able to be together. Besides, you're the one that I love. I keep telling you that, but you can't ever seem to _see _it."

"Maybe that's because you're freakin' ENGAGED to someone I can't stand!" I yelled. He winced.

"Look, I'm sorry. But apparently, I'm not the only one who wanted this. You were just as... reciprocative."

"Is that even a word?" I snapped.

I noticed that he had pulled his knees up and I briefly wondered if he had been just as turned on as I had been. I shoved that thought out of my head. Dangerous territory.

_No, Norah, _I thought.

"Where is your fiancée?" I asked him dully.

"I don't know," he said. "Working, maybe? I saw you walking and I couldn't help but notice that you were upset. I wondered why."

"Now you know," I said, shrugging. I didn't dare look at him.

"And I missed you." I felt him staring at me and I felt slightly uncomfortable. "Things are really tense at Aubrey's," he continued. "Her mom and Embry are fighting a lot. Kae was pregnant - that's why Embry married her in the first place."

"I know," I sighed. I really didn't want to hear anything else about Blondie the Pixie Bimbo or her family.

"Well, they've been married for about three months. Newlyweds and all. And then, Kae lost the baby. She was almost five months. Doctor said that the baby would have been a boy. After Kae got out of surgery, she admitted that the baby hadn't been Embry's at all. It had been her ex-husband's... Aubrey's dad's. Embry wants to annul the marriage. With Aubrey's family falling apart, I really can't just put the icing on the cake by ending our engagement."

"Then I guess I'm really not worth that much to you," I quipped. "If you can't find an appropriate time or even think about what _I_ might want." I felt my defensive walls rebuilding themselves.

"_Norie_," Levi whined. I got up and walked away from him, clumsily trampling through woods, tears blurring my eyes.

"If it's sex you want, then I'm sure Blondie will be more than happy to fuck your brains out. Since she already has, apparently. Just admit it! You don't want to be with me because I'm not some easy lay like she is!"

"That's not true and you know it. Stop bullshitting everyone!" he yelled, grabbing my arm. "Don't play that shit with me."

His lips were on mine again before I could protest. Lightning struck the night sky and rain started pouring down once more. His tongue forced my lips open and invading my protesting mouth. I froze, waiting until he was finished and then slapped him. He blinked.

"You don't _get _to do that!" I screamed, running away from him. The rain was pelting me relentlessly and by the time I reached the house, I was soaking wet. I pulled the door knob, but it wouldn't budge. I looked up in confusion and saw a note taped to the door.

_Norah, we're at Sam and Emily's. Be back later. Love, Mom_

I collapsed on the front porch in the fetal position, crying and rocking myself, willing myself to calm down. I saw lights against the house and I turned around to see Uncle Paul and Aunt Rachel's car doors shut. My cousin, Sarah, walked back into the house, shutting the door behind her as the car pulled off into the distance. I frowned and got up and slowly trudged to their front door. I was freezing.

"Norah," Sarah asked, answering the door. She took in my soaked appearance and then sighed. "Mom and Dad went to see Embry. His wife is packing up her things; she's leaving him."

"It should be the other way around," I said emotionlessly. "His wife is nothing but a two-bit whore."

I turned around to see Sarah's twin brother, Will, handing me a bright orange towel... my least favorite color.

"I know you hate orange, but it's Mom's favorite color. She painted the entire bathroom tangerine and bought matching towels." He groaned. I took the towel from him and used it to ring out my soaking wet hair. I felt bad for tracking water all over their pristine house.

"You okay?" Sarah asked, biting her bottom lip.

"N - no," I sputtered, walking over to the kitchen table.

"Okay, who did it?" Will asked, a furious look on his face. "Who the hell made you cry?"

"You know it was Levi," Sarah said, bringing me a cup of hot chocolate, complete with whipped cream. God, I loved my cousins. They pretty much made everything just a bit better.

"I didn't say that," I protested.

"Why else would you show up on our porch when your parents are at Sam and Emily's?" Will asked pointedly.

"Fine," I grumbled, taking the towel from my head and putting it under my feet to soak the muddy water up off of the floor.

"I could totally take him," Will grinned.

"Oh, yeah," Sarah said, feigning mock seriousness. "Because you're 16 and he's got an extra two years, five inches, and fifty pounds on you. Sit down, fool."

"He's engaged to Embry's step-daughter, but he keep following me places and telling me he loves me and _kissing_ me!" I said, resting my head on the kitchen table.

"Not cool," Will said, cracking his knuckles.

"This is everything I've ever wanted, you guys. Why am I fighting it? Why do I feel the need to protect myself?"

"Because he's engaged and you're scared that he'll pick his fiancée over you," Sarah shrugged.

"Shut it, Sarah. You're making things worse," Will sighed. "Look. With Kae and Embry's marriage on the rocks, I doubt Aubrey's going to stay here if the divorce/annulment goes through. Do you think she's going to want to live on the rez and work at the tribal center of her ex-step-father's tribe?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Levi and Aubrey dated for a _long_ time before her mom even got involved with Embry," I said, shaking my head. "It doesn't matter because Kae and Embry have only been married for three months."

"But they've dated for five years. Kae and Embry. Aubrey moved here when you guys were in junior high. We were eleven. I remember the ruckus caused by two white women moving on the rez... the first since your Mom, actually."

I wondered how Sarah remembered all of this. I sure as hell didn't.

"Besides, it doesn't matter what Blondie's doing. They seriously are _not_ going to last. If I were you, I'd give Levi a reason to hurry up and end things with her... if he can get what he can get from her from you then he's got no reason to stick around..." Will sang.

"I want to have a real relationship - not one where I choose to make a potentially life-altering decision on a whim."

"It's fool-proof..." Sarah chimed in.

"No," I said firmly.

"Isn't that what your dad resulted to?" Will laughed.

"I'm not my dad," I growled.

"Yeah, yeah," Sarah said.

"Because you're not six-seven? Or because you don't have a penis?" Will asked.

_Because I don't turn into a DOG, _I thought.

"Because I'm not a clueless moron!" I snapped.

"Ouch," Will said, raising his eyebrows once more.

"You know, if you keep raising your eyebrows like that, they're gonna get stuck," I quipped.

"I looked outside and saw Mom and Rowan getting out of the Mercedes.

"I've gotta go," I said. "Thanks for the towel, the hot chocolate, and the conversation."

"No problem," Will and Sarah chimed.

I headed back outside and Mom opened the door for me once I reached the house. She took in my straggled appearance and sighed, folding her arms apprehensively.

"I'd go in your room and lock the door. Your father's just been damning Levi Uley to the deepest pit of hell."

My eyes popped open in shock.

* * *

_Holy hell. I didn't mean for this to be almost 2,500 words long. I just couldn't figure out how to split it up and keep the pattern oof POV's going. So my treat to you for not updating yesterday. lol. Yay._

_Review question: Should Norah take her cousins' offer into consideration and have sex with Levi to get him completely away from Aubrey and make sure he doesn't go back to her? O.o_

_hehe. _

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	14. Levi

Chapter 14 - Levi

* * *

**Disclaimer: **If I owned the Twilight Saga, I'd be rich. Unfortunately, I'm not. But I do own this trilogy and all original characters not in the original series. :D

**A/N: **This chapter is from Levi's point of view. :)

* * *

The pouring down rain was relentless. And yet, I couldn't even muster up the energy to move away from it or to phase to run away. I felt hollow. I slowly made my way home, damning myself to the deepest pit of hell for confusing the hell out of Norah. How stupid was I? She was my best friend, the closest person to me. Just because I had feelings for her didn't give me the right to give her the run-around like that. What I was doing wasn't healthy for my relationship with her or the relationship that was going south with Aubrey. I was so stupid.

The house slowly made its way into my vision. I trudged down the road and looked up once more to see Jacob Black standing in our driveway, his hands on his hips, a fierce look in his eye. He was trembling with anger, despite the fact that the rain was coming down so hard that visibility was near zero. Oh shit.

"Uley!" he yelled.

I uneasily walked over to him, prepared for the beating of my existence.

"Yeah," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

He opened his mouth and then closed it again, perhaps to reel in the string of obscenities that I had been expecting.

"Garage, now," he said instead.

I concealed my surprised expression and walked toward the detached garage from my family's house. Jacob slammed the door shut behind him and turned to face me.

"I don't want to know what you would have done with Norah if she hadn't stopped you. I don't want to know why you decided to chase after her into the woods. Hell, I don't even want to know why you were kissing my daughter when you have a perfectly good fiancée at your disposal."

"Then what _do_ you want to know?" I asked, my frustration getting the best of me.

"Watch your tone!" Jacob snapped. "Why the HELL do you think you can play with my daughter's emotions like that? Were you simply thinking that you could "get lucky" and take a sample to see if what she had to offer was better than you already had?" He was positively screaming now.

"No - I mean - it's not like that!" I exclaimed indignantly. "You _know_ I care about Norah!"

"If you cared about her, you wouldn't be messing with her head!"

"It's not like I'm trying to do this! This fucking kills me, Jacob! I love Norah, you know that. I always have! But she never once gave a signal that she wanted anything more to do with me than to just be my friend. Not until I proposed to Aubrey anyway. And then all of this _wolf shit_ hit the fan and now I don't know what's up or what's down or what lies ahead of me. All I know is that once I phased, everything changed."

"So you're blaming the fact that your hands couldn't control themselves on the fact that my daughter was SHY?" Jacob roared indignantly.

"NO!" I bellowed. "I'm blaming it on the fact that I'm a freakin' wolf half the time and since I phased, I haven't been able to go two seconds without thinking about Norah or wondering what she's up to or worrying about her or thinking those stupid leeches are going to go after her next! So excuse me for jumping the rope a bit. I'm sorry!"

"So you _have_ imprinted," Jacob said, his voice suddenly much calmer.

"I don't even know what the hell imprinting even _is!_" I exclaimed. "How am I supposed to know what something is if I've never experienced it?"

"Just take my word for it. When are you going to leave your fiancée?" he asked me suddenly.

"I'm not," I replied, shaking my head.

"What do you mean, you're not? You honestly think this is something you can fight? And you honestly think that when it comes down to Aubrey either staying here or leaving with her mother that she's going to pick you over her own family? Levi, you and Charlotte _both_ saw her talking to a leech! Is that the kind of person you want to be with for the rest of your life? Someone who routinely converses with _bloodsuckers?_"

"I made a promise," I shrugged. "And I'm not going back on it. I gave Aubrey my word that I would marry her and I'm not going to take that promise back. What kind of person would I be then?"

"An honest person," Jacob said, eyeing me. "A person who realizes that he can't give his fiancée a hundred percent of everything he's got inside himself and so gave her up so she could find the one person she's meant to be with. Because you and I already know and half the reservation already knows that the person you're meant to be with isn't Aubrey. It's Norah."

"And you know that how?" I muttered, taking a seat on an upturned paint can. "Norah and I have changed since we were kids. We're not the same two-year-olds that couldn't go three days without seeing each other."

"My daughter would not be across the street crying her eyes out in her bedroom right now if that was really true. She wouldn't have let you kiss her, much less, put your _hands_ - " he groaned, rubbing his eyes as if he were recalling something truely grotesque. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah," I said, "I do. But people make mistakes. I don't know what I was thinking."

"That's a lie. And since you keep telling them, I'm not really sure if you even deserve my daughter."

"I keep fighting for her approval and I never seem to get it!" I exclaimed vehemently.

"Maybe that's because you're stuck with some blonde leech-loving bimbo!" Jacob yelled hotly.

"You don't even know her!" I retorted, crossing my arms again.

"I don't have to know her to know that you and Charley both saw her walking across First Beach to talk to some bloodsucker."

Jacob did have a point. I wasn't sure how to counter it.

"So what I'm saying here is simple. Keep your paws off of my daughter until you man up and do what we both know is right!"

And without another word, he stalked out of the garage, slamming the door behind him.

I sat in the garage, mulling things over in my head. Honestly, I had done Norah dirty. I really did care about her, hell I probably did love her. But I still wasn't sure if the way I loved her was the way she loved me or not. I didn't even notice when my dad walked into the garage and sat on the bumper of the Ford F-150 parked right behind me.

"Levi," Dad sighed. "We need to talk."

I looked up at him and frowned. "Let me guess. You're gonna tell me the exact same thing Jacob did. Honestly, I don't think I can bear hearing that again, so if you don't mind, can you give me some alone time?"

"I think I'm about to say something that might give you a lot of insight," Dad said, placing one hand on my shoulder. "It's about your mother."

"What about her?" I asked.

"Think about it this way. I'm sure you would have come out a whole lot differently if Leah Clearwater was your mother instead," he said, raising one eyebrow.

"Isn't that Charlotte's mom?" I asked. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"She has to do with everything," Dad sighed. "Leah Clearwater was my high school sweetheart. In fact, we had exchanged promise rings and I had already told her that once we were both out of high school and settled that I would ask her to marry me."

"What happened?" I asked, intrigued.

"Emily came to visit," he shrugged. "I took one look at her and knew that she was the One. I tried to fight it, but eventually I knew that I wasn't just lying to myself. I was lying to both Emily and Leah. Emily was Leah's second-cousin."

My eyebrows shot up in the air. "You left Leah for her cousin?" I asked, completely floored.

"Leah didn't take it too well. She didn't take the fact that we got married well and when you were born, she was quite upset. She was dating this guy named David at the time, though, so I figured it was only a matter of time before he proposed."

"Did he?" I asked.

"No," Dad said, shaking his head. "Leah pretty much put herself into a downward spiral and shortly after Jacob and Bella got married, she conned Jacob into sleeping with her. I'm pretty sure some very strong chemicals were used."

I gaped.

"But what does this have to do with anything?" I asked, looking down at the concrete floor of the garage.

"Look," Dad said. "Put yourself in my shoes for a second. I honestly tried my hardest to fight that imprint. I didn't want to break my promises to Leah and I didn't want to break her heart. But in the end, I didn't have a choice. I went back on every single promise I ever made to her. I'm telling you right now, if you've imprinted on Norah, the best thing to do is to end things with Aubrey quickly. Her mother is leaving first thing in the morning. They're spending the night at the tribal center tonight. First thing in the morning, I would go to the tribal center, tell Aubrey that you've fallen in love with someone else and then convince her to go with her mother. Not only will that solve your romantic problems, but maybe the leech problem will go with them."

I frowned. I really didn't want to hurt Aubrey.

"Honestly, son, I don't think she'll be quite as hurt as what you think she will be. You're a good kid, Levi. You're like your mother. You expect the best out of everyone. But I really don't think Aubrey was giving her best to you."

"Really?" I asked, frowning.

"Really. Now go inside, take a shower, think it over, and go to sleep. I'll wake you up at dawn and you can make your decision then. You have to make a final decision by then or this will never end."

I knew he was right. Dad gave me a one-armed hug and I headed inside, my head dizzy and full. The decision was easier than I thought it was going to be.

* * *

_I know... a little different. But I figured that this chapter was needed to make things a little easier to understand. I was going to skip it and head straight into Charley's POV, but I think this was much needed and had I skipped it, most people probably wouldn't have inferred that this is what went on. Next chapter will probably be from Charley's POV._

_Review question: Who wants to see a return of the Cullens? ;)_


	15. Rowan

Chapter 15 - Rowan

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Nope, once again, I don't own Twilight. But I do own everything that's not in the original series and everything that's not canon. :) Thanks!

**A/N: **Just in case there's any confustion, we're officially back to Charley's POV. :D

* * *

Levi and I were a pretty small pack. It was getting to the point where I was sick and tired of seeing his face and not being able to have a decent conversation with anyone else but him. It sucked that no one on the reservation that was our age knew about the big scary wolves running around everywhere.

Although Levi did get on my nerves more often that not, I still worried about him as a fellow pack member and comrade. Especially because he was making every effort for me not to see exactly what was going on in his mind. I had been busy staking out the Calls' place when I heard someone shouting across the street in the Uleys' garage. By the time I had gotten all the way over there, I had only heard one thing. _Keep your paws off of my daughter until you man up and do what we both know is right!_

Yep. Uley had messed up. And Jacob had gotten all over his ass about it. That's all I knew for sure. Things were just awkward because Levi wasn't saying much and I didn't want to let on that I knew anything had went down at all.

I waited for Levi to leave early the next morning. I was outside of his house well before daybreak. He left early, right as the sun started rising. He headed toward the tribal center. As the sun finally made its way over the trees, he stepped out into the open and walked into the building. I went to follow him, but stopped short at the sound of padded footsteps behind me.

I turned around and spotted a thinner steel gray wolf, darker splotches on his back, staring right at me. I'd only seen him once before and I glared at him, making our first eye contact.

I couldn't explain the feeling - it kept me rooted to the spot. The wofl looked out at the tribal center and then his eyes snapped back to me.

Suddenly, Ididn't care what Levi and his leech-lover were doing or whether she was staying in La Push or not. All I cared about was this wolf. I unsurely stepped twoard him and he returned the favor step by step. I frowned, unsure exactly of why I couldn't hear his thoughts. Suddenly, a huge mass of chocolate fur ambushed us both and half-dragged the gray wolf away.

I stood in shock, unable to move.

Slowly, I followed the wolves' scenet and saw two men in the distance.

"Embry," the first one said, frowning in obvious disapproval, "what were you thinking?"

"It's not like I_ wanted_ it to happen!" the second one replied. "I didn't know she was Jake's daughter until she looked at me!"

"Can't you just... take it back?" the first one asked. I racked my brain and finally remembered that his name was Quil. "You know Jake is gonna be pissed that one of his best friends imprinted on his kid!"

"Like you can talk," Embry said, rolling his eyes. "Claire just now turned nineteen."

"But we're only thirteen years apart. The two of you are sixteen years apart!"

"Do you realize how stupid you sound?" Embry asked, frowning.

The two disappeared into Quil and Claire's house. I was finally able to breathe and come to my senses. My father's friend had imprinted on me? Or was it the other way around? I couldn't tell. For some reason, the age difference didn't freak me out. I mean, he was decently attractive. Oh, forget that. He was _hot._ And what if what Jacob had said was true - if we were all approximately the same biological age... I couldn't ignore the weak feeling in my knees. My heart felt like it was pounding a chiseled pattern in my chest. And I couldn't ignore the primal need I felt as he had looked me full in the eyes.

I knew Mom and Jacob wouldn't be happy about this. I sighed and put my head on my paws.

Suddenly, I jumped up. Having been completely distracted, I had forgotten about Levi and his leech-lover. Stupid _moron!_

I ran back to the tribal center and saw Levi helping Aubrey into her booger-colored Kia. He gave her a swift kiss on the cheek and shut the door, sighing. I was confused. Was Aubrey leaving La Push permanently? Was I watching their last good-bye? Why hadn't Embry seen them off? And where were they going?

* * *

I headed back toward Jacob and Bella's later that afternoon and saw Norah and Bella sitting on the front porch, looking rather upset.

"What's going on?" I asked them, concerned.

"Rowan phased," Bella choked. "I mean, we all knew it was going to happen, but Jake promised that he would be here when he did. But Jacob's gone..."

"Who's in there with Rowan?" I asked. I could hear his frantic whimpers coming from the house, although I wasn't sure if anyone else could.

"Sam and Paul," Norah replied. "Dad and Quil and Embry aren't anywhere to be found. Embry imprinted on someone and Dad flew off the handle. He chased after Embry and about two minutes later, Rowan phased. Over the last two weeks, he's been getting taller and last night, his temperature shot up to a hundred and seven. We knew it was gonna happen."

Jacob had gone after Embry for imprinting? Because Embry had imprinted on me? So that explained why I had felt so weird earlier... I had been right. I hid my new-found knowledge from both Bella and Norah.

"Embry's wife left this morning," I informed them. "I think what's-her-name may have gone with her mother." I had known that this tidbit of information would pique Norah's interest.

"Aubrey?" she asked, obviously trying to play it cool.

"That's good news," I said brightly. "I mean, when I'm around Levi, all he ever talks about is you. 'Norah this' and 'Norah that' and 'Should I call Norah?' and 'Should I wait for her to call me?'"

Bella smiled as if she was recalling something quite funny.

"What?" Norah asked her.

"Just reminds me of how your father used to be every time we argued. I always heard how he lamented over me when he was with the pack."

Norah and I both burst out laughing. It felt strange; I hadn't laughed in such a long time.

"The best one was 'Should I call and then hang up?'" she grinned. "It was cute."

"Sounds like it," I agreed.

A loud groan erupted from the house and Bella shuddered.

"I wish there was some way I could help him," she sighed.

"Wait - " Norah said suddenly. "I bet _you_ could," she said, raising her eyebrows at me.

"Me?" I gaped. "But Rowan and I barely know each other!"

"But he knows you're his sister," she countered.

"And seeing someone his age might actually help him," Bella added. "Please, just try?"

"You guys act like he's got some life-threatening disease," I huffed. I sighed before answering their request. "Fine."

Bella nodded toward the door and I walked inside, following the scuffling noises to Rowan's bedroom. I gasped when I opened the door. A bookshelf was overturned, the bed half-collapsed, the closet door bashed in. The huge murals of the La Push forest and the Pacific remained unscathed, however. If I had had the time, I probably would have been amazed by them. However, my attention was captured by two naked men pinning Rowan down in the middle of the bedroom floor. Sam Uley and Paul Meraz looked worn out. I stepped back behind the door and quickly pulled off my shorts and tanktop and phased. I stepped back into the room and Rowan screamed when he looked at me.

"Look," Sam grunted, "it's Charley. Your sister." He was trying to soothe him but his attempts seemed to be unsuccessful. "You're not the only wolf around here. I told you."

Rowan struggled against Sam's grip and phased once more. Sam and Paul quickly followed suit. Now I understood why they had been naked. I felt the heat rise in my face and had I been in my human form, I probably would have been blushing.

_I can _see_ that, you crazy morons! Fucking let GO of me!_

_Where are you going to go? _Paul asked. _We already had Levi try to run. Innocent people are outside!_

_Roe,_ I tried mimicking Sam's soothing efforts. _This is okay. I'm going through the _same_ stuff._

_But I don't _want_ this! All I want is to be _normal!_ I never _asked _for this! Why me? _Rowan thrashed about on the floor; his hind leg hit the bed and it came crashing down the rest of the way to the floor.

_I want the same thing,_ I assured Rowan. _And so does Levi._

_What about me?_ I heard Levi thinking.

_Where is he? _Rowan's thoughts screamed. He let out a loud howl, chilling me to the bone.

_Hush it, _Paul snapped. T_he whole reservation is going to think we're killing some wild animal if you keep howling like that!_

_Levi, go find Jacob,_ I instructed Levi. _He's with Quil and Embry. Tell him that he's needed at home and that Rowan has phased._

_Rowan WHAT? _Levi groaned. _But the leeches should be gone already!_

_It's too late,_ Sam said. _Since the other one showed her face, it's too late._

_But Aubrey said that the other one was only a half-leech. _Levi explained. _She was from Brazil and she wasn't venomous. Aubrey's dad is a vampire - a newborn - who was changed while living down there with his new wife, who _is_ a leech._

_How can someone be only half-leech? _I asked, confused.

_They can be if their mother was a human, _Sam said darkly. _The half-leech Nahuel came here in the time of our grandfathers. _

_Hello! _Rowan yelled. _I'm still a mutt down here!_

_Right on, _Levi said. _Roe, I'll be right back with your dad. I promise._

The ridiculous leech business had my head all confused. Was today ever going to end? And how was my brother ever going to come to grips with the fact that he was a DOG? He seemed to be taking it a lot worse than I had. I hoped that Jacob would get here quickly and make things right again.

* * *

_Sorry I didn't update for two days in a row. I didn't have much computer access and on top of that, we've all been sick with some sort of cold/allergy thing. We've all had fevers. :( I haven't really been well enough to update. I've hand-written three chapters, so I'll get them typed up for you over the next couple of days._

_Review question: How many of you like the Embry/Charlotte imprint? I thought it was a little different... hopefully not too much so._

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	16. Imprint

Chapter 16 - Imprint

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Obvviously I'm not Stephenie Meyer. I don't turn magnificent hotness like Jacob Black into pedophilphic baby lovers. *GAG*

**A/N: **Back to Norah's POV. It seems like it's been a while, since the random Levi POV chapter. :P

* * *

It was dark.

I wasn't sure what time it was when I pulled myself to the brink of consciousness. My dream had felt so real... the warmth between my legs definitely attested to that fact. The throbbing there was pleasurable, yet painful at the same time. I squeezed my thighs together in an attempt to alleviate the ache, but it simply didn't work. It made it infinitely worse.

My breathing increased and I let one hand find its way south where it met my increasing wetness. The ache returned ten-fold and I found myself assuaging it, images flooding my brain, a certain face clearly in my thoughts, and suddenly I was clenching and shuddering and _flying_... trying to keep my moans under control. I knew that Mom and Dad were probably asleep by this point and Levi and Charley and Rowan were out patrolling...

I relaxed against the blankets, closing my eyes briefly and letting my mind wander a bit. I got up a few minutes later to wipe my hands off. On the way back into my bedroom, I noticed a familiar dark shadow hunkered down outside my window. I gasped, mostly out of embarrassment. Had someone heard me?

"Norah!" a familiar voice hissed. I grabbed a dirty shirt out of my laundry hamper and wiped my hands completely dry - what sort of weirdo would have dripping wet hands in the middle of the night? Well, dripping wet with water at any rate. I pushed that particular thought _out _of my head and walked over to my cracked window, pulling aside the curtain.

"What?" I snapped at Levi, who looked simply ridiculous trying to look suave and unnoticeable under my window box.

"I wanted to apologize for the other night," he said. "And I wanted you to be the first to know that I broke it off with Aubrey. She's moving to California with her mom to her aunt's house."

I froze.

"Can I come in?" he asked briefly.

I found myself nodding. Levi climbed through the window, carefully stepping over the window box and took a seat on my bed.

"I much prefer window boxes to annoying chirpy birds," he said seriously.

I rolled my eyes. "You're stupid, sometimes," I sighed. "Well... _most _of the time."

"I don't know how to tell you this," Levi replied slowly, "but I'm going to try. My dad said that your dad had told you about us - the whole wolf thing."

I nodded, remembering the _bizarre_ conversation I had had with my dad a few days beforehand.

"Well, wolves pick their mates for life. We have a lot in common with actual wolves. We have a pack, we follow a lot of their hunting patterns, have a strict hierarchy of leadership... and we pick our mates through a process called imprinting. It's hard to explain and I'm not even going to pretend that I completely get it because I don't. But I know I imprinted on you that night I crept into your room, just like tonight. I tried to fight it because there was so much going on and I was already engaged and I didn't know if you felt the same way. But I can't stay away from you anymore, Norie. It _kills _me. I want to be with you and I know I made mistakes and said a shit-ton of things I shouldn't have. But I never meant to hurt you and I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to make sure that I never hurt you ever again. I want to be with you from now until forever."

He finished and watched my reaction. At first, I didn't have much to give him, considering I was in complete shock. He had pretty much just given me the declaration of _love_ I had waited half my life for. So many questions were running through my head. _Had he finally ended his relationship with Blondie... permanently? For me? And he was _in love_ with ME? _All of this time, I had thought he had been irrevelently messing with my emotions. Never had I dreamed that he had actually felt something and had been strugging with the concept of actually loving me. But the way he was staring at me...

I pulled him close to me and kissed him, releasing every ounce of passion I had kept locked up for all of those years. He responded eagerly as I pushed him down onto my bed and straddled him, his hands staying firmly on my hips.

"Norah," he murmured, pushing me up for a brief second.

"What?" I asked, afraid I had done something wrong.

"I don't want this to come off as perverse or inappropriate, but can I ask you something?" He was blushing intensely.

"What?" I asked, completely baffled.

"Were you - er- _doing _something in here before I got here?"

"What - oh," I said lamely, not getting it. "_Ohhh..._" I suddenly replied, realization hitting me like lightning. I blushed even brighter, my eyes wide with mortification.

"Thought so," he groaned. His eyes were closed tightly. "I should probably get going."

I tried to get up.

"Wait," he said, pulling me close to him.

"Hmn...?" I murmured.

Levi kissed me sweetly on the lips, caressing the side of my face.

"That should have been th efirst time I kissed you," he grinned before wrapped me in his arms and rolling over. He kissed my forehead and hopped out of the window, leaving me breathless and in a state of mild shock.

* * *

The next morning, I giddily hopped to the breakfast table, not even trying to hide my euphoria.

"Someone's obviously happy," Rowan remarked sullenly. "At least _you _got some sleep."

"I'd watch it, Little Brother," I replied lightly, dusting a bit of extra powdered sugar off of my cinnamon french toast sticks. "Just because you're some big bad wolf now - "

Rowan growled and left his half-finished plate on the table.

"Can I eat that?" I immediately volunteered, smiling.

"Norah, you know your brother isn't happy with the phasing ordeal," Mom chided me. "You could at least try to be a bit sympathetic, couldn't you?"

I pretended to contemplate that idea. "No," I shrugged. "Roe's being a baby. Charley didn't have this problem when _she _came here..."

Dad's face grew stricken.

"What's wrong?" I asked, taking in his stoic expression.

"Embry imprinted on Charlotte," Mom said, sighing. "And it's obviously causing problems with the pack."

"Whoa," I said, shaking my head in disbelief. "Uncle Em and Char? Isn't he old enough to be her _dad?_" I asked, wrinkling my nose.

"It would appear that the imprint is both valid and mutual," Dad said, turning back around with his plate in his hands. "When Quil imprinted on Claire, I didn't care because I was sixteen and I wasn't Claire's father. I'm sure Heather Youngs' husband probably threw a _huge _fit about it, though... The point here is that whether she chooses to acknowledge it or not, Charlotte _is_ my daughter and she's also biologically a grown woman. Embry wants to start some sort of a romantic relationship with her. Given her actual age, I have a big problem with that."

"Surely they wouldn't have sex," I scoffed. "I mean, Char _is _only fifteen and that's exactly how old she acts."

"I can't keep them apart," Dad sighed. "But I told Embry that if he so much as _looks_ at Charlotte before she turns eighteen, he's mine."

"That's a little hypocritical," Mom snapped. "Last time I checked, you got me _pregnant_ when you were sixteen. Norah was born after you turned seventeen."

"Ew, _Mom!_" I groaned. "I'm digesting food, here!"

"So you're saying it's okay for Norah to come home pregnant because she's eighteen?" Dad growled. "I mean, you consciously decided to have a baby when you were her age."

"But I was married. And we're not talking about Norah, so don't bring her into this. We're talking about Charlotte. You know, your_ other_ daughter," Mom basically cut him off permanently.

"At any rate, I'm pulling Charlotte out of the smaller pack and trading Paul in for her. Rowan doesn't want to be Alpha, so I'm telling Levi that _he_ will be Alpha instead."

"You can _do_ that?" I gaped.

"Charlotte only assumed the position. Because she's an imprinted female who didn't imprint on an Alpha male, she doesn't get to keep the status of Alpha female," Dad tried to reason.

"You know you're only doing this to keep an eye on Embry and Charlotte," Mom said, rolling her eyes. "It's going to backfire on you at some point."

"She's fifteen, Bella. If Norah was that young and someone that old had imprinted on her, you know I'd be doing the exact same thing," Dad argued.

"And I'd probably be even more angry with you," Mom snapped. "My point is that you can't choose who you fall in love with - you shuold know that quite well, considering how long you had to fight for me."

"Umn... parents? Your child is sitting right here," I voiced interruptively.

Dad sighed and got up and kissed Mom on the cheek. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "Maybe I _am _being a bit rash. I promise I won't castrate him."

"I'm done with breakfast," I said loudly, sitting my dishes in the sink with a loud clatter. "I'm going out for a bit."

As soon as I set foot outside, I saw Levi standing in the middle of our driveway, waiting for me. I blushed scarlet.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said. "Where are you headed?"

"Well, I was _going_ to find Charlotte and ask her about this imprinting business," I said, smiling.

"Charley imprinted?" Levi asked, looking rather surprised.

"Dad seems to think Uncle Embry imprinted on her for some reason," I shrugged. "He's completely bent out of shape about it because she's fifteen and he's like... over thirty."

"That's crazy. She's at his house right now, actually, but I never thought..." he looked stupefied.

"I told my dad that there's no way Uncle Em could be romantically interested in her right _now,_ but he's seriously pissed." We continued our trek through the reservation, but I had no idea where we were going or where Levi was leading me.

"Wow, did Little Miss Norie Black just swear?" Levi joked, raising one eyebrow.

"Oh shut it," I laughed as he sat down and pulled me into his lap.

"Actually, I was kind of wondering something," he said, changing the subject. A tint of crimson was just visible under his russett skin. His face suddenly grew serious.

We were sitting under a few rather tall hemlock trees. I looked up, unable to fathom where the tips of the branches ended and the sky began. I sighed contentedly and leaned back into Levi's arms.

"What's that?" I asked, pulling his hands into mine. I marveled at the fact that he was so much bigger than I was. He made me feel safe, sitting here in the quietness of the woods.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Levi asked, not looking directly at me. He wound his fingers around mine.

I turned to face him and saw that he was looking out toward the clearing we were facing and not directly at me. He was nervous, somehow still afraid that I would turn him down.

"I've been head over heels for you since we were in diapers, silly," I said, trying not to laugh. "You shouldn't even have to ask."

"I figured it was proper procedure. No one should ever assume anything... it just makes an ass out of those who try," he shrugged, leaning in and kissing me softly.

Butterflies swooped in and attacked my stomach, prompting it to do rapid flip-flops.

"Will your parents approve?" he joked.

"Considering I'm your imprint and they're too busy reigning in Charlotte's newfound love interest and Rowan's emo-refusing-to-be-Alphaness, I highly doubt they're even going to _want _to worry about us."

"Your dad has kept me surprised the last few weeks... I don't know what he's going to decide to jump on me about next," Levi shrugged. "But _us... _now that's something I think I can get used to."

"You better," I teased, leaning in and kissing him back.

* * *

_Awhhhh... Nevi fluff! :D Hope you guys liked the update. I know the first bit was slightly graphic, but I felt like it needed to be stressed that Norah wants _all_ of Levi... his friendship, his love, and his... _body? _I've never really written anything like that before (I mean, I've written lemons, but never something like that), so I don't know if that's something I'd actually be good at or not._

_Okay. This is definitely getting awkward. ROFL. _

_Review question: I'm thinking of re-writing Jacob's Baby and expanding it into a MUCH larger volume... (think 400-page unauthorized Breaking Dawn). Do you think this is something I should try to do and if so, should I leave the original up and write it anew or delete it and rewrite? Kinda weird, but I was talking to **I'mnothingwithoutyouxoxo**_ _about it and the idea's really starting to grow on me. But then again, this story is looking like it's going to be about 30 chapters, maybe a bit more, so that's definitely a bit into the future. :D Just let me know._

_Much love,_  
_xoxo_


	17. El Camino

Chapter 17 - El Camino

* * *

**Disclaimer: **If I owned the Twilight Saga, I'd be rich. Unfortunately, I'm not. But I do own this trilogy and all original characters not in the original series. :D

**A/N: **Back to Charley's POV.

* * *

I didn't tell Mom that someone had imprinted on me. In fact, I wasn't sure who had imprinted on who - me on Embry or Embry on me. I kind of thought the imprint had gone both ways, completely mutual... if there was a such thing. It was all ridiculously confusing and although I kept telling myself it didn't matter, the point was that it was stuck in the forefront of my brain and I had no idea what to do about it. So I kept mulling it over again and again until it pretty much drove me crazy.

Finally, after not being able to figure out what to do about the situation, I decided to make a move. I made myself visible three days after our run-in in the woods. I planted myself right on the beach, wearing nothing but a skimpy red string-bikini. I laid my black towel out on the sand and sat down on it, stretching out my legs to soak up the sun - it was a rare, sunny morning in La Push... something I hadn't seen since we'd moved from Denali. It was welcome, considering I knew I was missing the near-constant sunlight that I loved this time of the year.

Embry came outside about a half-hour after I had arrived to work on something in his garage. He leaned over and grabbed a wrench off of the floor of the garage and looked up, realizing I was there for the first time. He was obviously trying to ignore me. He disappeared for a few seconds and then came back out and headed back toward the house. He stopped when I got up and picked up my beach towel, trying to "fix" it around my waist. I looked up and we caught eye-contact again.

"Out for a visit to the beach?" he asked, grinning casually. He had turned around and was now walking toward the fence that ran alongside his driveway.

"Yeah, the view is quite nice today, don't you think?" I tied the towel around my hips and walked over to the garage, hopping over the fence and sitting on top of it.

"What'cha workin' on?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing special," he sighed. "Jake's the mechanic of the reservation. I'm just the wing man and parts store person."

"Well, the wing man is important, too!" I said indignantly. "Bonnie and Clyde, Thelma and Louise, Starsky and Hutch, Aladdin and the Genie, Jesus and Santa Claus..." I ticked them off.

"So you're basically calling me a fat, bank-robbin', cross-dressin' criminal that can grant wishes while failing miserably as a cop?" Embry gaped.

"Well, I wasn't gonna take it that far. You said it, not me," I grinned, leaning up against his beat-up Chevy El Camino. It was freakin' classic. I'd always wanted one. His was a gaudy tangerine with brown pillows thrown into the bed. "What's up with this?" I asked, nodding toward it.

"The garage was my hide-out for a while," Embry shrugged. "I turned the car into a bed and slept back here when I just needed time to think or wanted some alone time. I played the radio and just sat in the back of the car and jammed." He smirked, obviously remembering something somewhat entertaining.

"Things were really that bad?" I asked, trying not to get pissed at the fact that Embry had been sleeping in the bed of a freakin' TANGERINE El Camino while his scummy wife lied about the paternity of the baby she was carrying and had been living it up in his house, probably sleeping in his bed.

"It's fine, really," Embry shrugged. "I like it out here. It's quiet. Just me and Old Bette."

"Your car's name is Bette?" I laughed.

"Just like the old woman... Bette Midler. Or maybe Betty White. This beauty's definitely got a personality," he joked.

"You're really starting to lose it," I laughed, shaking my head.

"Where's your dad at anyway?" he asked, changing the subject and looking around. "Your beach trip wasn't a family outing?"

"Hell if I know where he is," I sighed. "Home probably. Jacob didn't patrol with us last night. I figured he was with you. Besides, we don't have many family outings. I don't think I've ever had one, now that I think about it."

"Quil and Paul and I thought he was with you guys... considering it was Rowan's first phase and all." He seemed slightly concerned. I had no idea why.

I shook my head. "Levi and I handled Rowan just fine. He was really whiney and a complete fool about it all. He cried the whole time." It really had been irritating. Halfway through the night, I wanted to punch him in the face. But obviously, I couldn't do that... I knew Levi would have been pissed and then I would have had to deal with two crazy wolves. Rowan was already plenty enough of an annoyance. I wasn't sure if I liked this Alpha female thing.

Embry sighed. "That's how Jacob was when we first phased. He really didn't want to be a wolf. But he got used to it in time... hopefully Rowan will, too."

I nodded, hoping he was right.

"Besides, I really don't want Jacob reading into my thoughts right now," I admitted. "There's this guy I just met and I really like him, but he's a little old for me. I think Jacob might just have a heart attack if he knew."

Embry took a seat on Bette's khaki-colored cushioned bed. "To be perfectly honest," he said, looking down at concrete floor of the garage, "I'm in the same boat. I just met this really amazing girl whose father would skin me alive if I stepped a toe out of line with her." He looked up at me suddenly. "But I much prefer said girl ten times more when she's dressed normally and not in a string bikini in my garage."

So he had called my bluff. I was embarrassed. Apparently my not-so-subtle tanning session had backfired. Fan-freaking-tastic.

"Charley, you wouldn't mind having lunch with me, would you?" Embry asked suddenly.

Maybe my plan had worked after all...

I nodded and Embry took my hand and led me into his house. It was quaint, but rather bare. I sat down at the counter on a black barstool.

"So you can cook?" I asked him.

"Just about anything. My mom worked a lot when I was little; it was just the two of us. I never knew who my dad was. So I'd put dinner on the table for Mom when she got home from work and feed myself during the day." He sighed and changed the subject. "Anything you want particularly?" he asked.

I shrugged.

"Well, if you're American, you have to like hamburgers. I really need my protein today."

"Sounds great," I replied.

"I'm betting we both probably have pretty big appetites," Embry said, smiling.

I really wished I could do something other than nod stupidly.

"You don't happen to have an extra T-shirt or something I could wear, do you?" I asked him.

He smiled. "One. Promise me if you wear it, you won't flip out and randomly phase in it - I really need a couple more, but that's my last one for now."

"Promise," I replied. I bounded off into his room and put on the T-shirt I found in his sparce dresser drawer. It was a simple white one with a breast pocket on the left hand side. I slipped it on over my bahting suit and folded up the towel that had been around my waist, making sure to not get any sand anywhere. I walked back into the living roon and sat it on the recliner.

He camer around the corner and nearly choked.

I was surprised; I had never had that sort of influence on a man before. It was both embarrassing and intriguing at the same time. Somehow, it made me feel confident.

"Burgers are on the grill," he replied, obviously recovering from shock. He took a seat on the couch and I sat next to him, very closely. I got up to get my towel - the next most obvious object - and sat down, this time on his lap. I felt something quite firm against my backside and Embry squirmed uncomfortably.

"Charley, you should probably get home or something," he said suddenly. "I don't want to cause pack issues with Jacob. I'm a little too old to be your friend."

Except we both knew a friendship wasn't what either of us wanted - it was the last thing on our minds. And technically, we were both physically the same age... if not mentally or legally or whatever.

I kissed Embry on the cheek and waved goodbye and headed back toward Forks. When I was about halfway home, I realized that I hadn't gotten my hamburger. Damn it. What had I been thinking? Way to come on wayyyy too strong. I sighed. Typical Charley Clearwater. Typical _idiot._

____

* * *

So yes, I know. This was WAY short. And I apologize. However, I currently do not have interwebs at home and things right now are crazy personally. So yes, I apologize, but I don't know when I will be able to update again. :(

____

However, I did come bearing good news! I've started work on a new project. :) This one is a completely orginal work that is solely mine. It is a full-length novel tentatively titled

_So, review question for this chapter: Any ideas for this story? I need to get my creative juices flowing and I don't care if your ideas are batshit crazy. At least they will keep me entertained._

_I'll try to update again soon._

_Much love,  
xoxo_

Fidelity_ that I have already hand-written 75 pages on. Yay! So those of you who have said that I will become some famous author someday, I really hope you're right. haha. I'm really excited about this. But sadly, there are no hot steamy werewolves in it. :(_


	18. Guards

Chapter 18 - Guards

* * *

**A/N: **Obviously, I do not own Twilight. I am working on becoming a published author, but until then, I waste time using Stephenie Meyer's characters to create my own characters, if that makes any sense. LOL. So yes, I do own Norah and Rowan Black and Levi Uley and Charley Clearwater. :D

* * *

I was head over heels for Levi Uley. We were eighteen, fresh out of high school, and we knew we were soulmates.

With Levi's worload with the pack in full swing, I didn't get to spend very much time with him. Most of our kisses were stolen when no one was looking; our first make-out sessions were behind the shed behind my parents' backyard or behind the general store on the rez. We couldn't keep our hands off each other.

One nagging fear constantly plagued me, however. I knew I wasn't the first girl Levi had held like this. Although I was his imprint, I was scared that Blondie might someone have been a better kisser than me. I also remembered Levi's somewhat confession from long before we had started dating - how he has basically admitted that he and Blondie had done the deed. I hated it. I knew that Levi wanted to have sex, but I was scared that I would fail miserably. And, we had only been dating for just over a week. So it was a little soon for me to be thinking about that, let alone mentioning it to him.

Levi and i were holding hands, walking down one of the back roads on the northern end of the reservation, an areas the pack didn't typically frequent.

Levi had brought us a picnic - complete with ham and cheese sandwiches.

"Nice spread," I commented, laughing.

"Only the best for my Norah Jane," Levi remarked, his eyes twinkling with mirth. I smiled, happy that he had called me _his._

"And how did you know that I preferred ham over turkey?" I asked him, putting one hand on my hip.

"Your mother," Levi smirked.

"Yes, because my mom totally has all of the answers," I laughed.

"Not all," he shrugged. "But she does know your food preferences."

I giggled.

We found a spot in a clearing near the edge of the reservation. I pulled Levi over to a tree and we set up our picnic, laying out the red and white checkered tablecloth he had brought with him and setting the picnic basket on top of it. We sat down and he wrapped his arms around me protectively.

As time passed, the sandwiches disappeared and I laid my head down in Levi's lap. He leaned down and kissed me.

My eyes fluttered closed and I kissed him back, my hands snaking up to his cropped hair. His tongue begged for entrance and I obliged, greedily pressing myself into him. He leaned back up suddenly.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Too much, too fast," he replied, panting.

I frowned; before he he had ditched Blondie, he had been only too eager.

He took in my frown and sighed.

"I want to do this the right way. And I want you to be ready," he explained.

"I'm ready to make out with you," I said, not understanding.

"But you're not ready to make love to me," Levi said seriously. "And unless I keep myself under control, that's what I'm gonna want."

My jaw dropped and I blushed vibrantly. Obviously, I had known that Levi had had sex before, but I didn't have the slightest clue that he might want to with _me. _I had thought that that..._ desire_ had been completely one-sided.

Despite my embarrassment, I was curious. I leaned forward and kissed him softly. I slowly shifted myself from my spot in front of him onto his lap, straddling him while he was distracted by my moving lips. Slowly, I gyrated my hips in a circular motion, twisting them rhythmically, hoping I wasn't being completely clumsy and ridiculous.

"What - are you _doing?_" Levi groaned, his hands flying up to my waist, stopping me.

"Seeing if I'm any good at this," I said innocently, shrugging.

Levi's jaw nearly swept the ground and he pushed me backward until he was leaning on top of me.

"You have no idea what you're doing to me," he growled, one hand resting at the small of my back and the other in my raven hair.

"Show me," I whispered.

"Not now," he replied. "It's too soon. I just told you, I want to do this the right way."

"How do you think that when we're made to be together?" I asked him. "How soon is too soon if we have forever?" I frowned, confused.

"You should be asking yourself if there is ever a point where I want want you like this," Levi replied. "Because there's not. Why test my love for you when we have eternity. It's only been a week."

"But this week feels like eternity," I protested.

"Drama queen," Levi huffed. "Besides, you know Jacob would kill me."

"Dad would _not_ kill my imprint," I laughed, smiling at the thought of my dad coming after Levi with some sort of pickax.

A small smile crossed his face.

"You know, I love you," he grinned, kissing one of my cheeks and then the other.

"How cold you not?" I teased.

Levi froze suddenly.

"Baby, I was teasing. I - " I thought I had offended him, but one of his hands flew over my face.

"Shhh!"

He looked up over the creek behind us. A young guy with bronze-colored hair and eerie pale skin was standing on the other side of the creek. He was accompanied by a small dark-haired girl - nearly half a foot shorter than me - with the same eerie pale skin.

"Norah!" the small one exclaimed suddenly. The first one turned and glared at her. She ignored him and suddenly hopped _over_ the creek and wrapped me in a huge hug.

Levi growled viciously at her.

"_Alice!" _the other one said. "That one doesn't know you. Perhaps you should at least _call _Bella first!"

"Is your mother home?" the one called Alice asked me. "She's obviously changed her number from th elast time we were in Forks."

"I'm sure she is," I answered. "Levi!" I snapped as Levi snapped at the girl again. He was shaking uncontrollably. Suddenly, my boyfriend exploded into a huge black wolf, phasing on the fly, sending scraps of fabric everywhere. Alice quickly jumped in front of me. One of Levi's paws flew forward, scraping across Alice's chest with an ear-splitting shriek, tearing her ivory shirt open.

Suddenly, three more wolves flew out of the woods. I didn't recognize them. One was gray with splotches on his back, one a deep russett-brown, and the third a pure white. They surrounded Levi and nudged him away from Alice, who simply frowned at her ruined shirt. No blood, no... anything. It was as if I had imagined the piercing squeal of claws against iron skin...

"Norah!" I heard Dad yell suddenly. He rushed out of the woods toward me. "Oh my God! Are you okay! Did he hurt you?"

"Dad!" I exclaimed. "Levi would never - "

"Jacob, it was our presence," the guy was speaking again from the other side of the creek. Throughout the whole ordeal, he had stayed in place.

"Cullen," Dad growled, his eyes narrowing threateningly.

"Jacob, I hadn't realized tat you had so many new wolves," Alice said. "The white one and the black one..."

"Are Jacob's daughter and Sam Uley's son," the one Dad had called Cullen responded.

Alice nodded. "I can't believe my little niece is all grown up!" she sniffed.

"Niece?" I frowned in confusion.

"Long story," Dad replied. "Look, I'm sure Bella will be glad to see you, Alice. But Eddie can go back where he came from."

Eddie or Cullen or whoever he was nodded and was gone before I even had the chance to blink.

"My car is parked on the main road," I told Dad.

"I can take Norah to her car," Alice offered. "And meet you back at your place..."

"Fine," Dad replied. "We need to get Levi back to Sam and Emily's anyway."

He turned around and ran back toward the woods. I looked back at Alice.

"I thought my mom was the only child of only children," I frowned.

"I'm her ex-sister-in-law," Alice explained. "You were almost named after me," she laughed.

"You mean, my mom was going to name me Alice?" I asked incredulously.

"No," ALice said, shaking her head as we started walking toward the car. "She almost named you Norah Alice. Jane was tacked on instead as an after-thought. Your mom and Edward didn't file for divorce until the day after you were born."

"So Edward - that's not the same one as Eddie that was with you?" I stammered.

"Yep, that's the one. He knew you were Bella's daughter instantly. You do look a bit like her, you know," she smiled.

"Not as much as Rowan does," I said, shaking my head.

"Rowan is your..." she trailed off, obviously confused.

"Brother," I supplied. "He's fifteen. Almost sixteen."

"Do you have any other brothers or sisters?" Alice asked.

"Well, kinda," I replied. "My dad has another daughter - Charley. From what Eddie said, I'm guessing she was the white wolf."

"She's not Bella's?" Alice gaped.

"Her mom's name is Leah," I said. "My parents thought that Leah and Charley had died before Charley was born... while Leah was still pregnant with her."

"I can't believe your dad would cheat on your mom," Alice said, shaking her head. "That's just really out of character for him to do something like that." She looked rather mystified.

"It was more along the lines of Leah took advantage of Dad by getting him drunk," I replied. "My parents love each other. They're like... soulmates." I realized that that was the second time I had used that word in one day.

"I know," Alice replied.

We were almost home. I had forgotten to lead Alice back to the car.

"So tell me a little bit about you," she said, changing the subject.

"What's there to know?" I asked.

"Who's Levi?" she asked, not-so-subtly.

"My boyfriend," I replied, grinning.

"Ah," she replied. "How long now?"

"Just a week," I said, blushing.

"But I would be mistaken if I said that you two weren't serious about each other," she grinned.

"Is it crazy?" I asked softly. I felt like we were sharing some sort of secret moment... something no one else had to know about. It was weird the effect Alice seemed to have... like she was radiating trustworthiness or something.

"Not if you love him," she shrugged.

We walked into the driveway and Mom met us outside, her hair up in a messy bun, her cheeks flushed.

"Norah! Your dad just called and said that you were with Levi when - " her words were cut off by her own scream when she noticed Alice standing next to me. "How did you - when did - ahhhh!" she squealed. She wrapped Alice into a huge hug.

"It's been way too long," Alice agreed. "We've been gone over fifteen years, biut you haven't aged a day!" she gasped.

"It's... complicated," Mom said. "Wolf stuff. Apparently, having puppies with Jacob keeps me from being any older than he is, physically."

"That's good news," Alice said. "We came back to protect you. The Volturi decided to come and find us to see if you're still human. When you weren't with us,t hey became suspicious. Rosalie told Aro that you had married a werewolf and that your silence was guaranteed. THe only way they said that they wouldn'attack was if you were immortal. Jane said that she would find you and make sure. They're making plans, but they haven't set a date. It's rather low on their list of priorities, what with the feuding armies in Africa right now. A few nomads down there are fighting over land, which is causing major craziness and humans all over the world are blaming it on some sort of genocide and all kinds of stuff..." she sighed.

Mom looked like she didn't even hear a word Alice had said.

"The Volturi can't come here," she spluttered. "They're _vampires._"

"They will," Alice sighed dejectedly. "Eventually. But you're not aging. I suspect that the other imprints aren't either, right?"

"No," Mom replied. "But Jacob never - "

"The Volturi?" Dad's voice boomed as he headed up the driveway. "Aren't they like... your _kings_ or something?"

Alice suppressed a smirk. "Something like that."

"You know, I'm not going to let my wife and mother of my two children get hurt because of your lot again."

"Wait," I said, as what my parents were saying finally clunked into my thick skull. "Mom was married to a _vampire?_"

* * *

_Yay! A slightly longer chapter. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get very many reviews for the last chapter. :( Especially that I announced that I'm working on a new book of my own that I hope to get published. Figured you guys would be a little more excited about that. :(_

_But anyways, I updated rather quickly! :D_

_Please, please, PLEASE review! Like, I'll love you forever. Reviewers get a sneak peek of Chapter 19 if you review by 9:30 ET tonight. :D_

_Review question: Is my story getting boring or something? I feel like I'm losing readers and that makes me sad. What can I do to make sure YOU stay on board? :)_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	19. Love

Chapter 19 - Love

* * *

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own Twilight. I have my own book I'm working on, so HMPH. :P

* * *

Embry Call had pissed me off.

No, scratch that. Embry Call had made me completely and totally _irate_. And I guess I'm a little more like my mother than I realized. Because when I got mad, I got _mad. _Furious. I was a blazing fiery torpedo on the warpath. Even if that _didn't_ make any sense.

I really did understand his predicament. He had imprinted on his best friend's daughter, who was underage. Yeah, that sort of had the capacity to cause more than a few problems. But instead of battling his problems head on and_ dealing_ with them like a normal adult, he was running away from everything.

The real problem was in the fact that I had fallen for Embry hard and fast. It scared the hell out of me, but who else was to say that I wasn't allowed to feel however I wanted to? It just irritated me that he was listening to what others thought about our relationship (or lack thereof) instead of listening to what his heart was telling him. So if he wanted to put himself through pain, then fuck him. I didn't need him. Especially when his pain was becoming_ my_ pain and I'd had enough of a hard time dealing with my own _pain_ for long enough now. I didn't need _his_, too.

On top of all of this drama, I still had to deal with the fact that Levi Uley was a complete and total idiot. Seriously, I had no idea what my sister was supposed to see in him, other than a great big blundering oaf who almost KILLED her.

So I was the one who kind of took all of my frustration with the Embry situation and went off on Levi.

He was on his way to Jacob and Bella's house, probably to go fornicate with my older sister. Gross. Another image I didn't need in my head.

"Uley!" I growled.

Levi turned around and looked at me in surprise.

"Hey Charley," he said. "Haven't seen you around lately. Well, other than the other day and all. Sorry about that. What's been going on with you and Jacob's pack and all of that?"

I really didn't want to explain to Levi that I'd been phasing behind trees to avoid having my dad see me in a certain… state. Again, gross.

"You know, Uley, you're supposed to chase after vampires! Not phase on the fly and have to have the bloodsucker protect my sister when that's clearly _your _job!"

Levi ducked.

"Damn, Charley, I've already freakin' apologized to everyone on the reservation about that! I really don't think I need to bow down and ask for your forgiveness, too!" He sighed. "I freakin' almost hurt my girlfriend and some NICE shiny vampire that I didn't know I wasn't supposed to attack came to her rescue. Don't you think that's humiliating enough?"

"Well, that _better not_ happen again, Uley! Apparently, those bloodsuckers are going to be around for a while and I don't want to have to step out of my place to rein in your rabid ass again."

"Actually, last time I checked, Jacob had made _me_ Alpha, not you. So you seriously need to get off your high horse!"

I whirled around to give Levi a piece of my mind and saw Norah glaring right at me, her hands on her hips and her eyes flashing angrily.

"Don't you _dare _call Alice a bloodsucker! And it's not exactly Levi's fault. There _were_ two vampires standing right there. He didn't know that he wasn't supposed to attack them!"

"Uley, the freakin' treaty was explained right there!" I huffed.

"You weren't there. All I knew was that there was a vampire on our territory! So I did what I was supposed to do!"

"Apparently, not knowing that Dad had changed the treaty to allow Alice on our lands," Norah sighed. "It's okay." She turned to face me. "And I know that both of you care about me, but I don't want to be stuck settling arguments over me with each of you. That's ridiculous. I don't want to have to pick one of you over the other or take sides. It's not fair to me or to either of you."

I sighed. "I know, Norah. And I'm sorry. Won't happen again. I've just got a ton of stuff on my mind and I – "

"Dad mentioned that Embry imprinted on you," Norah sighed, giving Levi a look. He conveniently headed off somewhere. "And I'm sorry. He's being pretty unreasonable and that probably has Embry running scared. I know when Levi phased and you and Embry and Dad had to rein him back in, he went off on Levi and told him that if anything like that ever happened again, then he'd make sure a pinecone was embedded in his skull or something."

I sniffed. "It's stupid."

Norah sighed and pulled me over to a nearby bench where we sat down. She half-laughed.

"You know, it's really _not_ stupid. I know what you're going through because I've been through it. I was there when Levi was fighting the imprint. I felt what it's like to have the one person who's meant for you to run away and not know how to get them back. And I know what it's like to feel like you're losing your mind because that one person seems almost too selfish to want to fight for _both_ of you. I know it hurts, Charley. But Embry isn't going to run for forever. And Dad's not going to be… _retarded_ for forever, either. Things _will_ work out. You just have to have a little faith."

I didn't know what to say. I just sat there, looking down at the ground.

"Well faith is one thing that's definitely short-coming nowadays," I sighed. "I don't know how to get him to stand up to Jacob. And I don't know why Jacob's acting like this. I mean, he's just getting to know me. He wasn't the one that stood by me every day in Denali when Jackson and Reba and Kayla and DJ were making fun of me…"

"He didn't know you were even alive, Charley," Norah said, shrugging. "And maybe he's just trying to make up for lost time by trying to protect you. I didn't say that it was smart or anything, but that's Dad for you. He fights tooth and nail for the people he loves. He always has and he probably always will."

I nodded. "I guess that's just something I'm going to have to get used to, huh?" I sniffed.

"Yeah," Norah said, shaking her head. "It'll be alright. Embry will come around. He won't be able to resist the pull. It won't be much longer. You can stand it for just a little bit longer. I know that sounds like it's easier said than done, but it'll all be worth it in the end." She gave me a quick hug and took my hand, pulling me up from the bench.

We slowly headed back toward the house and I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What?" Norah hissed.

I nodded toward the porch. Bella and the Eddie bloodsucker were sitting on the front porch, serious looks on both of their faces.

"Edward, I know you said you'd always wait for me, but you don't understand. Jacob is my everything. I have a family with him and we've lived here on the reservation for almost twenty years now. Jacob is my husband and – "

"I was your husband once, too," Eddie interjected. "And we always said that we'd raise Norah together…"

"But things got complicated!" Bella had tears in her eyes. "I fell in love with Jacob. I never intended to. For years, I told myself that he was just my best friend. But I was lying to myself and I promised that I would be honest with myself no matter what."

Norah's eyes narrowed as she watched her mother.

"Should we leave them alone?" I asked her, biting my bottom lip. This did_ not_ look like a conversation I wanted to overhear.

"No," Norah replied, glaring at Eddie and her mother. "I think this is one conversation I _need_ to overhear."

I nodded, sighing. I really didn't want to mess up Jacob's family any more than I already had…

"I don't think you _are_ being honest with yourself. You can't tell me that you can just _forgive_ Jacob for what he did to you. He went back on every promise he ever made to you, Bella. He broke your heart!"

"He did _not_ go back on every promise," Bella snapped. "Sure, there was a brief time in our marriage where things were rocky, but we patched over that. It strengthened our marriage. It wasn't Jacob's fault, Edward. Leah used some hyper-concoted chemical-based liquor and got him wasted and had her way with him and in the process, got knocked up. I spent months debating on whether or not I was going to pack up Norah and leave him, but I decided to stick it out for my unborn son's sake. I knew that one day, Rowan would phase and that he needed to be here. And somehow, I fell back in love with my husband again. I _will not_ just throw that away for some old fairytale romance from way back when. The point is, _Edward_, that I'm in love with Jacob, my husband. That's the way it should have always been, but I was young and naïve and let some idea of being with some handsome _god_ cloud my judgment. Jacob and I aren't perfect by any means, but that's what makes us work. Our little quirks and things meld so well together that we make a team and – "

Edward interrupted her speech.

"Look Bella. I still love you. And he was an idiot and he hurt you. Come back to me and I promise, I will never do what he did to you. I love you and I could just as easily love your kids, too. Even if one of them is a dog." He groaned. "You keep turning back in and reworking everything in your head to make it work and to make it make sense, but in reality, we both know that Jacob messed up. He _cheated_ on you and you magically try to make it sound okay. But it's not."

"No, it's not okay," Bella sighed. "But is it really any worse than suggesting he donate sperm so _we_ could have a baby? Is it worse than making him watch his child grow up from afar? Is what he did to me worse than what Leah did to him? It's all relative. I'm in love with Jacob and he loves me and together we have a family. I'm not leaving my husband and if you try to bring it up again, then I'm going to insist that you leave."

Edward looked taken aback.

I looked over at Norah and she looked absolutely stunned.

"Norah?" I whispered.

She got up and stormed through the woods, back toward Sam and Emily's house.

"Norah!" I hissed, following her. "NORAH!" I yelled, once we were out of Bella and Eddie's hearing distance.

"What?" she finally asked, turning around, tears stinging her eyes.

"Why are you so upset?" I asked her finally.

"I just found out that my entire childhood was a lie," she sputtered, falling down to her knees in the gravel road. "My parents weren't married when I was conceived. I was conceived initially to be someone else's daughter. The entire epic love story that I thought my parents had was a _lie._ I'm the result of some scheme my mom and her ex-husband concoted up in order to perfect their fairytale life. At one point in my mother's life, she wanted to be a vampire. And she never even _told_me. So that's my problem. That's why I'm so upset. And I think I have a right to be."

Oh _brother._

I paused. Bella's words were slowly coming back to the forefront of my mind. "_Leah used some hyper-concoted chemical-based liquor and got him wasted and had her way with him and in the process, got knocked up."_

_Holy hell._

So this is what my mother had kept hidden from me.

I thought back to the conversation we'd had on the trip from Denali to La Push.

_"__Not only did your dad reject me, but so did my ex-boyfriend. He left me because he fell in love with my cousin. I was hurt and I was upset. I made some really stupid decisions because I was immature and wanted to hurt Jacob for hurting me. I never expected to get pregnant. I had been told that I couldn't have kids. So obviously, I didn't feel the need to use protection. When Jacob found out I was pregnant, it nearly killed him. I told him to move on and let me raise you by myself because I didn't want to tear his family apart. He wanted a part of your life, but I couldn't let him sacrifice his family, Charlotte."_

_"No, I do understand. What I don't understand is why you would sleep with a married man just because you were upset with him for not wanting to be with you! That's messed up, Mom!"_

_"I'm not standing up and saying that what I did was right. It was wrong. Morally and ethically wrong. And I'll never do it again. We were both drunk that night and I definitely wasn't in control of my actions. But you need to know the truth, Char."_

Except she had left out a pretty important part of the truth.

The fact that she'd drugged my father.

* * *

_Sorry that this update was so late... once again, computer access has been extremely limited. :(_

_Thanks for reading and please review! :D_

_Review question: How should Embry realize he can't stay away from Charlotte? Toughie, but I'm having a hard time getting this pair together without it seeming all weird and gross. LOL._

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	20. Port Angeles

Chapter 20 - Port Angeles

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**A/N: **Obviously, I do not own Twilight. I am working on becoming a published author, but until then, I waste time using Stephenie Meyer's characters to create my own characters, if that makes any sense. LOL. So yes, I do own Norah and Rowan Black and Levi Uley and Charley Clearwater. :D

Chapter is in Norah's POV. :) And I also posted some and then went back and added more once I found another computer to add more to it. Sorry for the confusion. This IS edited!

* * *

I wasn't really sure what I planned to do after high school. It was July and my deadlines were all upon me at once. I had had no idea where the time had gone and suddenly, I found myself pressed for time and freaking out and stressed. Levi tried to help me as best as he could, but we both knew the impending decision could make or break us. I knew I wanted to stay in Washington State, but I didn't know where exactly I wanted to go.

But I knew one thing - I wanted more than La Push. I wanted to get out of the rainiest part of the continental United States and _do_ something with my life. I knew that Levi was scared to death that he was going to lose me because no matter what, he was always going to be on the reservation... no matter what. I knew that my parents would never leave, Rowan would never leave, Charley would never leave... For a brief instant, I felt left out. I didn't understand why fate had simply decided to skip over me and then bless the rest of the reservation with the greatness of being werewolves. I knew my mom had taken her place as the matriarch of the pack, but I couldn't ever see myself doing that. I was lonely. Everyone else my age was running around as dogs 95% of the time and I was the only one sitting at home with no one else to talk to. So part of me was screaming to go to college... but I didn't know if I could bear leaving home. I was torn and confused and I didn't know what to do.

Levi and I went out on a date near the end of July. He picked me up from the house in his beat-up Ford Ranger and we traveled to Port Angeles. I snuggled up to him in the middle of the card ride and eventually fell asleep, not caring about the rain thundering on the windshield. When I woke up, the rain had subsided a bit and a bright rainbow was in the sky. The windshield wipers were still running, wiping the extra water from the windshield. I groaned and woke up and looked up at Levi.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he grinned.

"Are we almost there?" I asked, stretching and yawning.

He nodded. "You were out for quite a while."

"And it felt good," I replied. "I needed it." I paused, getting up and looking out the window. "What are we doing in Port Angeles?" I asked him.

"I've planned a surprise," he shrugged, taking one hand off of the wheel and wrapping it around mine.

"You know I hate surprises," I said, groaning.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," he grinned. "I think you're gonna like this surprise."

"Oh really?" I teased. I nestled myself against his ribcage, resting my head on his shoulder.

He nodded, not looking down, keeping his eyes fixed on the road.

* * *

We arrived at the Salt Creek Campground in Port Angeles right around dusk. Levi sprayed bug repellent all around the truck and we climbed into the bed. He pulled a picnic dinner, two cushions, and an old table cloth out of the tool box attached to the back of the truck and we sat down to our feast of ham and cheese sandwiches and Doritos. Of course, Levi ate half a dozen ham, cheese, and Dorito sandwiches all by himself. After we had finished eating, he pulled me close to him and we cuddled in the back of the truck.

"That _was_ a nice surprise," I giggled.

"That wasn't the surprise," he murmured, kissing my forehead. "Considering last time we were interrupted, I decided to make sure we could have some quiet time all on our own. There shouldn't be any vampires here to mess things up this time around."

"Levi..." I sighed.

"I didn't think your parents would let me take you out alone again. So I had to take every precaution and your mom gave me permission to take you to the park here."

I smiled. Dad probably would have gone through the roof.

"I love you, Norie," he said huskily, his eyes full of something I couldn't fully understand. He brought his lips to mine and kissed me softly. I deepened the kiss, desperately trying to get as most out of our time together as I could.

We made out for a while - his lips moving in synch with mine, his hands traveling up and down my waist, just enough to frustrate me and not push any boundaries.

"Levi..." I groaned.

"What?" he whispered.

I put his hand near the waistband of my jean shorts, begging him to continue his motions lower.

"Norah," he gasped, his eyes wide.

"Please," I murmured.

Slowly, carefully, he slipped his hand lower and touched me. I was already soaking wet by this point and he hadn't even touched me. His fingers brushed me and I moaned aloud. I peeked through my closed eyelids at him and he was breathing hard, biting his bottom lip.

"God, you smell _fantastic_," he groaned. He moved slightly and his hips brushed my knee and I felt his need firmly against me.

"Levi, make love to me," I found myself saying.

He paused.

"Norah, are you sure?" he asked. "We've never - "

"I know," I said. "But I want this more than anything. Please?"

He looked torn.

"But we've never done anything like this before," he admitted, heat rising in his face. "Are you sure we should really... "

I blushed vibrantly, but leaned down and pulled down his sweatpants, taking him into my hands. He was so much bigger than what I'd thought he'd be. I was nervous.

"Baby, there is no way that is going to fit," I said, my eyes wide.

"People do it all the time, Norie," he said, blushing even more vividly. "I mean, obviously, it works somehow."

I swallowed and unzipped my own shorts as he rummaged through the tool box and came up with an unopened box of condoms. He touched me softly, inserting one finger. That was pleasurable enough. I groaned in anticipation as he pulled one out of the box and put it on.

He pushed me down and I carefully guided him inside. It was a tight fit and I squirmed with discomfort.

"Honey..." he murmured. "I can pull out if you want me to..."

"_No_," I insisted. "It'll be fine. Keep going."

He continued thrusting and the pain slowly subsided. I almost found myself enjoying it, but then Levi came with a resounding groan.

He pulled out and I cuddled up to him, trying to keep warm and trying to keep from trembling. Everyone had said that this was supposed to be so much more enjoyable than I had found it. I sighed. The sated look on Levi's face made it worth it, though. He kissed me softly and pulled the condom off and leaned down to the end of the truck to dispose of it.

His shoulders stiffened and he gasped.

"Levi?" I asked, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said almost too quickly. I frowned.

"I know you better than that," I said, getting up on my knees and crawling over to the end of the truck bed.

"Put your clothes back on and get into the truck," he said harshly.

I felt as if he had slapped me. I pulled my shorts back on and hopped over the truck bed, wincing at the uncomfortable feeling.

I guess I hadn't been good enough after all.

I got back into the truck and sniffed, trying to hide my tears. I had no idea why I was so emotional. I mean, I knew I loved Levi and he had promised never to hurt me again, but this had opened up a whole new world of hurt.

He finally came back around to the driver's side of the Ranger and got back in the driver's seat, slamming the door shut.

"Norah, I am so, _so_ incredibly sorry," he sighed, turning to look at me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, frowning.

"Maybe I got the wrong size or didn't put it on right or something," he rambled. "But I didn't expect to screw everything up and I was nervous and in a rush..."

"Levi, shut up and get to the point," I said, looking at him warily. "Why are you panicking?" My stomach felt like it had done somersaults and was twisted around.

"Norah, the condom broke. That's why I'm freaking out. I'm sorry I came off so harsh and - "

"Hang on," I gaped. I felt like he had slapped me. "WHAT happened? No... oh no, no, _no_..."

"I mean, what's the chance of you getting pregnant the first time around? I mean, I know I made a huge mistake and obviously erred in my judgment - "

"_Levi!_" I gaped in shock, completely surprised that he would make such a ridiculous assumption. "It only takes_ once!_ And I don't think either one of us are ready to be _parents._ Hell, we're fresh out of _high school! _And, you know my dad would completely _murder_ you!"

"I thought you said that he wouldn't murder your imprint," he shrugged, looking ashamed.

"And besides, I want to get _off_ of this reservation! I want to _make_ something of myself! I don't want to be stuck around here for the rest of my life. I've always wanted more than La Push! I thought you knew that! I thought we'd _discussed_ that!" Pissed, I slammed my hand into the dashboard. It hurt. A lot. I bit my bottom lip, trying to shrug off the pain.

"Levi, I'm not ready for a baby. I want to wait ten years, at least. I want to travel, see the world."

"Well, we don't know that there will be a baby," he said, sighing.

"Well, there's always Plan B," I said immediately. "We can stop by the pharmacy on the way home."

Levi sighed.

"What?" I snarled. "Do you have a better suggestion?"

He paused. "No, I guess not. But if there _is_ a baby, I don't want to abort it. What the hell is Plan B, anyway? If it's an abortion in pill-form, I'm not doing it."

"Last time I checked, it wasn't your body." I crossed my arms, glaring at him. How dare he even try to tell me what to do?

"But it would be _my_ baby. _Our _baby."

My stomach twisted even tighter. There was no way in hell I was having this conversation with my boyfriend. With Levi Joshua Uley, whom I had known since birth.

"If you don't drive me there _right now_, I will tell my mother and she'll take me there herself," I threatened. "Let's go. Now."

* * *

_Yes, I know I've already gotten five or so reviews, but I found another internet access point was able to update. I've had like eight million things going on and I really meant to update sooner, but I had a lot going on._

_Also, I had some moron crazy Christian Baptist lady try to tell me that I was possessed by a demon because I read Twilight. I definitely am not possessed, but I was really turned off from my fan fiction. Sorry guys. :(_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	21. Eavesdropper

Chapter 21 - Eavesdropper

* * *

**A/N: **Obviously, I do not own Twilight. I am working on becoming a published author, but until then, I waste time using Stephenie Meyer's characters to create my own characters, if that makes any sense. LOL. So yes, I do own Norah and Rowan Black and Levi Uley and Charley Clearwater. :D

Chapter is in Charley's POV.

* * *

Jacob Black had gone insane.

I mean, seriously. That was the only explanation for having us out non-stop. The images in his head of the Volturi weren't exactly pleasant, so I could see where he was a little worried and upset. But I wasn't really happy with the fact that I hadn't slept in nearly three days because Jacob had had me running around and around the reservation like a little watchdog. Obviously, Embry wasn't happy about it either.

_God dammit, Jake. I'm not doing anymore running. Just because you got eight hours of sleep last night doesn't mean that the rest of us are anywhere near as..._ peppy.

Embry glared at Jacob, resting his head on his paws and whimpering. I fought the urge to run over and comfort him.

_I don't know what makes you think I got any sleep last night. It was the first time I'd been home all night long in nearly a week, _Jacob thought, grinning.

_Ewww! _I squealed, not wanting to think about my own father doing _that._ Ugh. His smug look now just looked perverted.

_Sorry, Charley,_ he added haphazardly. _Anyway, I told the Cullens that I would stop by their place with Bella tonight to talk about what we're gonna do when the Volturi show up. Obviously, their arrival has the potential to cause even more drama - Will will probably be the next one to phase._

I groaned. Would this nightmare ever be over?

Jacob went behind a tree and I purposely turned around to avoid seeing certain things I was sure would scar me for life. When I turned back around, Jacob was pulling on the drawstring of his cut-off sweats.

"I'm not going to have the time to watch the two of you, so please don't do anything that I'm going to have to murder Embry for," he added, looking directly at me.

I wolf-yawned and turned back around and ran through the woods. A few minutes later, I heard Embry following me.

_Awkward..._ Embry trailed off, his thoughts going back to an embarrassed Jacob and an even _more_ embarrassed Embry.

_That's Jacob for you. Always the great protector,_ I shrugged, looking up at the clearing ahead.

_Wait._

I turned around, looking at Embry strangely. He headed behind a tree and phased, nodding at me. I followed suit.

"What?" I asked.

"I want to try something," he replied. "And I know it's a little awkward and I know we're both standing here and - man, I probably should have thought this out better."

I crossed my arms over my chest and came out from behind the tree I was standing behind.

"Yeah, probably," I said, raising my eyebrows. "I mean, I'm sure this technically violates a whole lot of laws."

"Not that it should. I mean, technically we're both the same age. Biologically. Who cares anymore?"

"Not me," I replied, walking closer to him. We were about two inches apart now and Embry's breathing had definitely kicked up a notch.

"Good," he said softly. "That means I can do this." His lips came closer to mine, filling the space between us and capturing my own in a sweet kiss. My heart thudded still and I was pretty sure I was blushing.

"Embry..."

"I'm not saying this is going to be easy. It's going to be hard work. But I want _you_. I _need_ you. And it kills me when I have to stay away from you. I'm sorry but I can't do it anymore. So what if Jacob kills me over it? I doubt he will, considering we've been best friends since we were little."

"You're rambling," I said, sighing.

"Just, think about it. You're my imprint, Charley. I can't live without you. And I've tried, but it's just not working."

"I know," I answered, remembering the painful feeling all too well.

"I guess what I'm trying to ask is if you will be my girlfriend. I know people might look down on it and all, but Quil and Claire are almost as far apart in age as we are and it's worked out pretty well for them..."

"Okay," I whispered. I rested my head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around me comfortingly.

"I do love you, you know that right?" he asked softly.

"Of course," I replied. "You're the most patient person I know. You _get_ me... even when Jacob and Bella and Rowan and my mom don't. You have no idea how much that means to me."

He smiled.

It was nighttime now and the car lights from a nearby truck shone through the trees. The truck's engine shut off and I noticed two people sitting in the seat, talking furiously. We were right behind Jacob and Bella's house. Jacob and Bella came out the front door and the two people in the truck - that I now recognized as Norah and Levi - froze in mid-conversation.

"Hey, Norie," Jake called. "We're headed across town for a bit, to an old friend's house. We'll be back later."

Of course Jacob wouldn't tell his precious Norah that she and her mother were in danger. If the royal bloodsuckers thought Bella had inside knowledge of the vamp world, they'd probably try to wipe Norah out just to be on the safe side. It didn't set right with me. I was nervous about the whole situation.

Jacob and Bella got into her old Mercedes and backed out of the driveway, headed to the Cullens. But Norah and Levi didn't get out of the truck.

I phased and got a little closer to the truck, hiding behind the side of the front porch.

I turned and Embry was glaring at me in disapproval.

"Norah, what are you _doing?_" he hissed.

I shook my head and listened to the ongoing conversation in the truck.

"Look, honey, I'm telling you it's not my fault. I did everything the way I was supposed to. I'm sorry that it wasn't as great for you as it was for me, but maybe next time - "

"That's not what matters," Norah said quietly. "The consequences of tonight have the probability of being _very_ severe. I don't know how the _five_ stores you went into didn't have Plan B. That's absolutely ridiculous. I mean, we're both consenting adults and - "

"Tomorrow, we'll go and get a prescription, then. Surely one day won't make much of a difference."

I paused, feeling rather shocked. Norah had always crossed me as the 'goody two shoes'... the kind of girl who didn't have sex before marriage. What the hell had she been thinking?

"Look, if worse comes to worse and it doesn't work out the way we want it to, then I'll ask you to marry me. I was already planning on it. Not for another couple of months, but still... I imprinted on you and everyone would expect it coming anyway."

"Levi! I don't want a shotgun marriage! I don't want to get married at eighteen because someone was stupid and the condom was faulty and I got pregnant!" she hissed, getting out of the truck and slamming the door. "I want more for my life! I want to get _off_ of this stupid reservation. Damn it, Levi. I'm not my mom. I'm not going to be content to sit around Forks for the rest of my life just because some idiot got me pregnant. And after tonight, you're going to be _extremely_ lucky if I ever decide to have sex with you ever again." Tears were streaming down her face and she was obviously shaken.

Whoa... _was_ Norah pregnant? But she'd just said the "consequences of tonight." Maybe it was just a scare. My mind was spinning. What the hell was going on?

"Look, Levi. Maybe the best thing to do is just for us to take a break. Things are going way too fast and obviously we have much different goals in mind for our lives. I don't know how this imprinting thing is supposed to work around everything I want to do with my life. And maybe I won't be able to stay away from La Push. But this fall, I want to go to the University of Puget Sound. I want to double-major in history and theatre. I want to travel the world. I don't want to stay in La Push. And I know you have to. Just... let me get a few things worked out first."

"But what if it happens, Norah? What happens if you get pregnant with my baby? Would you abort our child to follow some crazy dream you have?"

Damn it, Levi. Why did he always have to say the stupidest things.

"Yes, Levi. I would."

Norah spun around and marched up to the front door and let herself in, throwing the front door shut behind her. It echoed across the yard with a resounding slam.

I sadly watched Levi as he stared at the front door, his face echoing the complete shock that I was feeling. He got back into his truck and stared at the front door for a while, before resting his head on the steering wheel and sighing.

Eventually, he started the car back up and backed out of the driveway, heading back toward the Uley's house.

I crept back toward the woods and Embry opened his arms and I phased back to my human form before running into them.

"Levi and Norah are just kids," he sighed. "They don't know what they're doing."

"And what about me?" I asked him. "Norah's what, three years older than me? If she's just a kid, then what am I?"

"You've been through more than Norah has," Embry shrugged.

"You know, I don't think I have," I said, seeing the look on my sister's face all over again, right before she slammed the door in her imprint's face. I hoped that that wouldn't be me in a few short years.

* * *

_Updated again. :) Obviously._

_Not the world's best chapter. I could definitely use some input so I know I'm doing okay... suggestions on how to make this better are _always_ welcome. :)_

_Review Question: Should Norah be pregnant with Levi's baby? And if so, what should she do about it?_

_Looking forward to your answers. ;)_

_Please review! It's the only payment I get and it makes me update faster!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	22. Run

Chapter 22 - Run

* * *

**A/N: **Obviously, I do not own Twilight. I am working on becoming a published author, but until then, I waste time using Stephenie Meyer's characters to create my own characters, if that makes any sense. LOL. So yes, I do own Norah and Rowan Black and Levi Uley and Charley Clearwater. :D

Chapter is in Norah's POV. :)

* * *

_Stoplights, breakdown, we cry, last try _  
_Worlds collide, time to decide _  
_Where you want to go in this great big world _  
_Where you want to go in this great big world _

My suitcase was out on my bed and I was throwing stuff in it - a few sets of clothes, shampoo, conditioner, a hairbrush, my toothbrush, a map... I wanted out of La Push and I wanted out now. I wanted away from the stupid small reservation that I had grown up on, surrounded by narrow-minded people who never seemed to understand that I was alone. Only the small circle of people on the reservation knew that everyone that was my age, other than my cousins Will and Sarah, were werewolves most of the time, running around reading each other's minds and immersed in a pack philosophy that I knew that I would never understand.

_Next page, new day, finding my way _  
_Stumble upon the strength to move on _  
_I am not alone in this great big world _  
_And you are not alone in this great big world _

_Run just as fast as you can _  
_Run, 'til you reach the end _  
_Where the fallen finally land _  
_And your world starts over again _  
_Run_

I did love Levi. He was my best friend. But this relationship had no future - not with me wanting to leave La Push and him being forced to stay as a member of a wolf-pack. It was time I cared about myself... what was best for me for once and not what everyone else wanted from me. I didn't feel like a whole person anymore. I felt like I was dependent on Levi and that he was relying on me not to leave. I couldn't deal with the pressure any more. I felt like a dam holding up everything in my life and I was about to explode.

Thank God my parents weren't home. That would have made it even harder to leave. Rowan was sleeping, having had a big night the night before. I knew he would miss me... we had been close as little kids. But since he had phased, our relationship had deteriorated. It was time for me to go. He would be just fine without me. They all would.

I headed out to the hallway, my duffel bag in my right hand, my keys in my left. Rowan's room was dark; he was obviously still asleep. Part of my heart hurt, not saying goodbye to him. But it was easier. I didn't want any emotional goodbyes.

I snuck around to the back of the house and hopped into the Rabbit and headed out of the reservation into the night, making a left onto Ocean Front Drive.

* * *

The longest part of the trip was getting to Seattle. It took me almost four hours. The worst part was going through the Olympic National Park. I knew the pack frequented there because it was so big and right in Forks' backyard. After I finally got into Seattle, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. I really didn't have anywhere to go in mind - I just wanted to get as far away from Northeast Washington as I could. I wasn't sure how much of a distance the Rabbit could safely take. I guess I would find out.

I merged off the I-5 onto the I-90 and headed east. I eventually found myself in Missoula, Montana. Exhausted, I checked myself into the Holiday Inn. I'd driven all night long and it was just now noon.

"Hello, welcome to the Holiday Inn. How may I help you?" a plump woman with her blonde hair swept back out of her face into a braid going down her back greeted me at the front desk.

"Hi, I need to book a room," I said.

"Well, we don't start reserving rooms until four," she said, eyeing me up and down. Her nametag said Virginia and suddenly, I knew this woman wasn't going to try and be nice. "Are you at least eighteen?" she asked severely.

I dropped my driver's license down onto the table and she eyeballed it.

"Well, like I said, you'll have to wait until four and it's fifty dollars a night."

This trip was going to be expensive.

"Thanks," I said, turning around and heading back out the door. I jumped back into the Rabbit and drove to the University of Montana and parked in a random parking lot.

I leaned my seat back and slowly fell asleep.

I later awoke to a loud rapping at my window. I groaned and opened my eyes and saw a parking patrol officer glaring at me. His hair was cut into a military crew cut and his dark brown eyes didn't seem very lenient at all.

"Ma'am, the university requires you to have a permit to park here," he said, crossing his arms.

I looked at him incredulously. The entire parking lot was _empty_.

"Are you shi-" I caught myself in an expletive and smiled innocently up at him. "Look, Officer - umn - _Thompson_, my name is Norah Black and I'm from the La Push Native American Reservation in Washington State. Far _west _Washington State," I added for emphasis. "I've been driving for almost fourteen hours and the Holiday Inn down the street won't let me check in until four. I wanted to park somewhere safe to sleep, since I don't know this town and a college campus seemed the best place to do it. I'm _also_ checking out colleges during my trip and based on the experience I've had in Missoula, Montana so far, I'm about two seconds from scratching this place off my list."

Officer Thompson's eyes widened.

"You've been traveling FOURTEEN HOURS?" Yep. He thought I was a loony person.

I simply nodded in response, trying not to push my luck.

"Miss, I don't really see how you're awake. My wife and I have a daughter about your age. She's just graduated from Big Sky High School this past spring. Why don't you come on over to our place and have dinner tonight. I know you probably don't have much money saved for your trip and you can stay with us as long as you need to."

My jaw dropped.

"Officer, I don't really think that's such a great - "

_"Or_, if you want, I could easily arrange to take you down to the station and book you for refusing to follow an officer's orders..." he trailed off.

I sighed. "Fine, lead the way," I said.

* * *

Officer Thompson led me to the outskirts of Missoula. The house was located in an area called "Little Rattlesnake." The house was located at 1915 Raymond Avenue and was a cadet blue with white trim and a gray roof. A girl that looked about my age with long, curly blonde hair was sitting on the front steps next to the flower pots. Her eyes opened warily as I parked my car behind Officer Thompson's in the driveway.

"You're home," she said to her father. It was a statement, not a question.

"I met Norah here in Washington-Grizzly Stadium," he said, shrugging. "She needs a place to crash for a little while. Is your mom fixin' lunch?"

The girl nodded. "Hi, I'm Alison," she said, extending her hand. I shook it in greeting. Alison was tall, about as tall as Charley, maybe even a little more so. I walked into their house, following Officer Thompson. He led me into the kitchen.

"This is my wife, Juline," he said, gesturing to a tall, slim woman with short curly hair the same color as Alison's.

"Hello," she said, turning away from the stove. She turned and eyeballed her husband. "Another one, Ryan? You need to stop bringing home college kids," she laughed.

"Well, this is a special case. Norah's from Washington State," he said, shrugging. "She's been in her car for the last fourteen hours and the Holiday Inn won't let her check in til four, so I told her she could crash here."

"It's really no problem," Juline said, smiling. "I mean, Ryan brings home college kids at least once a week. I guess he's trying to make Alison some new friends before the fall semester starts."

Alison shook her head, smiling. "Are you thinking about going to the U of M?" she asked.

"It was on my list of schools to look at. I really wanted to go to the University of Puget Sound," I said. "My boyfriend kinda wanted me to stay home and go to school in Seattle or at the community college in Port Angeles, but I'm not too hot on the idea."

"That's why I don't date," Alison said, shrugging. "Too many guys around here just want to settle down."

"And there's nothing wrong with that," Juline said, looking at her daughter. "Your father and I got married at twenty and twenty-two, so - "

"I understand that," I replied, looking at Alison. "That's what my boyfriend wants. I mean, I love him, but I think we're too young to get married or even be thinking about it, really. There's so many things I want to do still."

"I'm thinking about majoring in Biochemistry. I'd like to be a doctor," she said.

"Which is going to take a whole lot of money out of OUR pockets," Ryan laughed.

"See, I have goals. My boyfriend understands, but he doesn't want to have to make those sacrifices for me to make those dreams come true."

"Then maybe he isn't the right guy," Juline said seriously.

I wished it were that simple.

"We've been best friends since we were born, practically. Our parents are best friends. We live on the La Push Native American Reservation out there. There's just certain... cultural obligations my family expects me to fulfill."

"But you're white," Alison said, looking at me strangely.

"Well, my mom is. My dad's Quileute."

She nodded.

"Well, there's a guest bedroom down the hall. I'll show you where it is. You look like you need to crash," she said, shrugging.

"I'll put you a plate in the microwave," Juline promised. "Sleep for as long as you feel like you need to," she added.

I smiled gratefully. "Thank you guys so much," I said.

"No problem," Ryan added.

Alison took my hand and led me up the stairs to the guest bedroom.

* * *

_Anyone expecting Norah to leave? Where will she go? :)_

_Thanks for reading! Comments on this chapter would be greatly appreciated! _

_Review question: What do you think Jacob's reaction will be? And will they be able to find Norah?_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	23. Mission

Chapter 23 - Mission

* * *

**A/N: **Obviously, I do not own Twilight. I am working on becoming a published author, but until then, I waste time using Stephenie Meyer's characters to create my own characters, if that makes any sense. LOL. So yes, I do own Norah and Rowan Black and Levi Uley and Charley Clearwater. :D

Chapter is in Levi's POV. Not Charley's. Another random chapter, but I think it's definitely needed, based on the developments of the last chapter.

* * *

The next morning, I felt awful because of the fight Norah and I had had the night before. But I really didn't see what else there was to do about the situation. I had behaved like a complete fool - the one time that Aubrey and I had been intimate, we had never had something stupid like _this_ happen. She was always so well-prepared and had everything under control. Compared to Aubrey, Norah seemed so vulnerable. I sat up and put my head in my hands. I never should have let Norah talk me into what we had done. But then again, my resolve had definitely wavered and she had talked me into doing something that had I not been completely side-tracked and distracted, I probably would have decided against.

Because when I really thought about it, I didn't want Norah to go away for college. I guess subconsciously, I thought that if we had made love, then she wouldn't want to leave. I didn't expect for the situation to turn out as badly as it did. I knew I needed to apologize and as much as I didn't want to, I knew our relationship would suffer if I didn't. We weren't ready to be parents, but a part of me definitely thought that if Norah become pregnant with my child, there was no way she would have left. I knew that mentality was selfish, but I wanted a life with my imprint. I wasn't sure who _didn't_ want that. Even Charlotte and Embry seemed to want the same thing - and their relationship was nowhere near as serious as mine and Norie's.

I got up and checked the clock. It was just after nine in the morning. I yawned and headed into the kitchen, where Mom was busy making breakfast. Sebastian sat at a stool by the kitchen island, kicking his feet up against the cabinet doors.

"Sebastian James Uley, if you don't stop kicking those cabinet doors, I'm going to make sure you don't ever again," Dad threatened, walking in the front door, glaring at S.J. He looked up at me and turned around quickly, headed for the living room. I'd seen that look on Dad's face before. It always signaled that there was something he didn't want to talk about. I looked over at Mom.

"What's up with Dad?" I asked.

"I knew you were going to ask," she said, shaking her head.

"Mom!" a voice yelled. I sighed as Briony ran through the hallway, her tennis shoes in one hand and an upset look on her face. "Aiden's not in his bedroom!"

Dad sighed. "Bree, I'd know if your brother wasn't in his room."

"He did have the music up pretty loud earlier and then there was this great big crash and the music went off and I knocked on the door, but he didn't answer and - "

Dad cut her off.

"What do you mean, there was a great big crash?"

He was cut off by a loud knocking on the door. He got up and answered it. Jacob Black was standing at our front door, looking wild with anger.

"God damn it, Sam, my daughter better be here!" he yelled.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Language, please, Jacob," Mom pleaded, covering S.J.'s ears with her hands. He squirmed underneath her.

"Norah's gone," he said, glaring directly at me. "And _your_ son has something to do with it!" he bellowed.

I gaped at him like he was crazy. Norah was gone? But where could she have gone? Was she simply visiting her grandfather in Forks or had she gone for an early-morning joyride in the Rabbit?

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

He thrust a note in my face and I looked down at read it.

_Mom and Dad,  
__  
__I know it's going to be hard for you to understand this, but I think it's time I took a break from La Push. I've been extremely stressed out with the whole school debate and where I'm going to go to school and my relationship with Levi and whether or not I want to stay in La Push at all. I know that you probably won't completely understand a lot of this and I promise that I'll come back eventually. I'm not going to tell you where I'm going or how long I'll be gone because as of right now I'm not even sure myself. But what I do want you to know is that I love you both and that the two of you are the greatest parents anyone could ever ask for and that Rowan and I are so incredibly lucky to have you in our lives. I promise that I will continue to be the girl that you raised and I'll take care of my responsibilities while I'm gone.__I'll call when I get everything straightened out and situated.__I love you,__Norah Jane_

I simply blinked at the letter in shock and my heart felt like it was crushed. Norah had left. Actually left. Suddenly, I felt like I couldn't _breathe_, couldn't think, couldn't function. I sat down in the chair and gaped.

"I'm guessing you didn't have an inkling about all this?" Dad asked suddenly.

I opened my mouth and then closed it, not able to answer him. Finally, I forced myself to speak, looking up at Jacob's glaring eyes.

"Norah and I were having a rough patch," I admitted. She got mad at me last night and slammed the door in my face.

"Is there a reason _why?_" Jacob pressed, not uncrossing his arms.

I groaned.

"Jake, I really don't think you want to know," I sighed.

"As your Alpha, I'm telling you _right now_ to tell me what's going on!" he roared. I looked over at the table where Mom was standing, now holding a scared S.J. She headed down the hallway with both S.J. and Briony.

"Fine," I sighed. "Norah and I both made a mistake last night and I don't think she took it very well. That's probably why she left."

"What sort of mistake?" Jacob growled. I could feel Dad tense up behind me.

"Now, Jacob," he said, trying to smooth over the situation. I had a feeling he knew what I was about to say.

"No, Sam. Let him finish," Jacob shrugged. He nodded toward me.

God this was embarrassing. He was going to make it just as hard on me as he possibly could. He probably enjoyed watching me squirm.

"Jacob, we both kinda got carried away," I said, swallowing. My throat felt dry and scratchy. "She wanted to. I never forced her. I would _never_ do something like that. She practically talked me into it."

"Norah would _never -_ "

"Jacob, really?" Dad asked. "You seriously think that after what you and Bella did when you were Levi and Norah's age that they wouldn't even attempt the same thing."

"She's not pregnant is she?" Jacob groaned, sitting down. "Please tell me she's not pregnant."

"The condom broke. We ran around town, trying to find some pill she said she could take just in case, but every time I ran in somewhere asking for it, the pharmacists said that they didn't carry it."

Jacob swore under his breath.

"Look, Levi. Norah never wanted any of this. She wanted to _make_ something of herself and she got stuck in an imprint situation. I always wanted my baby girl to make something of herself. Even if I knew that she was always going to end up with you, I told myself that she could be supportive to you and make something out of herself at the same time. Open up a bookstore or a diner or something in Forks or maybe Seattle, for example. I thought she could maybe get a degree online or something. I never thought that she would end up having to deal with the things that Bella and I had to deal with at such a young age. I know she's an adult, but she'll always be my daughter, my baby girl."

I nodded.

"We have to find her," he said, getting up. "She's been gone for hours now. What I'm going to do is have Embry, Charley, Levi, and myself head to Seattle and spread out from there to find Norah. The rest of the pack can stay behind to protect the tribe. The Cullens haven't heard from the Volturi yet so I think we're safe for now."

Dad shook his head.

"Damn it, son," Dad muttered. "If you just could have kept it in your pants until a more opportune time..." he sighed.

* * *

It took us about thirty minutes to find everyone and get started on the plan to run out to Seattle. It had rained since Norah had left, so the scent of the Rabbit had long been washed away before we left. Obviously, this made things a lot more difficult.

_Could she have gone to look for colleges? _I asked. _She mentioned to me that she wanted to get off of the reservation. Jake, do you know what schools she was interested in?_

_I remember Bella saying that she was interested in UCLA, the University of Montana, and UNLV. But she was most likely going to stay at Seattle University. _I listened to Jacob's thoughts and saw several brochures laid out on the kitchen table in his thoughts, Norah and Bella going through each one.

_That's pretty much the entire freakin' west coast! _Charley complained. _Seriously, Jacob. Why couldn't she just take online courses through Seattle University and stay in Forks?_

_That's what I wanted her to do, _Jacob sighed. _Then again, Norah is so much like her mother that she basically doesn't give a damn about a thing I ask of her. I didn't think it was my right to force her to do something. Usually that plan backfires. Like now. _

I could feel Jacob's resentment toward me and I bristled. This wasn't my fault. Sure, I had been a fool and the damn condom had broken and I hadn't realized it. That didn't make the entirety of this situation my fault. It was _Norah_ that had decided to run away.

_We'll talk about that later, Levi. We're not done with this conversation. _

Damn it. I guess I hadn't gotten off somewhat easily, after all. Ugh.

* * *

_I know this is still relatively short, but I'm trying to post more quickly than usual. :)_

_Review question: Should Jacob and Bella sit down and have a talk with Norah and Levi when she's found? If so, what should they confront them about? _

_Thanks for reading! Please review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	24. Diego

Chapter 24 - Diego

* * *

**A/N: **Obviously, I do not own Twilight. I am working on becoming a published author, but until then, I waste time using Stephenie Meyer's characters to create my own characters, if that makes any sense. LOL. So yes, I do own Norah and Rowan Black and Levi Uley and Charley Clearwater. :D

Chapter is in back in Norah's POV.

* * *

Considering the fact that I had been driving all night long the night before, I was reasonably surprised that I felt able to function after only five hours of sleep. I woke back up at around eight o'clock that evening and headed out to the Thompsons' living room. Juline and Alison were watching a TV show. I wasn't sure where Officer Ryan Thompson was.

"Good morning, sunshine," Alison teased.

"Same to you," I laughed. Alison scooted over on the couch and offered me a seat. I took it graciously.

"I'm going to UM tomorrow to register for my classes," she continued. "You should come with me and see whether or not it's too late to get you enrolled. It'd be awesome to start there together."

I shrugged. "I really hadn't decided on where I was going to go."

"Well, you kind of need to decide that really soon," Juline piped up from the Lay-Z-Boy in the corner of the room. "It's getting really close."

"Just come up there and look at the campus with me," Alison pleaded.

I sighed. One more day in Missoula couldn't be all that bad.

"If you like it, Ryan and I wouldn't mind having you stay here in the guest bedroom. You seem like a level-headed girl."

I smiled briefly.

"We understand that you have other priorities besides school. I remember you said that you had a boyfriend back home," Alison said. "But he should care about your future, not just his own."

"Eighteen is much too young to get serious about a boy," Juline added.

"Besides, the boys on campus here are pretty hot," Alison admitted.

"My tribe actually practices arranged marriages," I lied. "Levi's been picked out for me since we were born. If I were to break things off with him, my entire family would be disgraced." Okay, so I was stretching the truth a lot. Levi's face flashed back into my memory and my chest squeezed painfully.

Juline's eyes got really big. "Isn't that illegal or something?" she asked, aghast.

"Nope. Native American tribes follow their own laws. We have our own soverignty, which is separate from the government of the state of Washington," I lied again. Well, it could have been the truth. Honestly, I had fallen asleep in that part of our civics class.

Alison nodded.

"I was planning on traveling south, actually," I said. "I wasn't planning on sticking around too much longer." Besides, I knew that Dad and Levi probably had the entire pack on my tail by now.

"Well, if you can't get out of not marrying your boyfriend, then maybe the two of you could move here. I mean, it's a really nice town and all..."

I smiled at her, trying not to let her see how much I pitied the fact that she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Perhaps. I'll talk to him about it."

Alison smiled, not pressing the subject. Juline got up and headed into the kitchen. I heard her push a button on the microwave and a few seconds later, she brought me out a plate of pasta.

"Figured you'd be hungry," she grinned.

I took the plate from her and ate ravenously. I was famished.

* * *

The next morning, Juline, Alison, and I headed over to the University of Montana. I looked around campus and basically fell in love with it. I loved the mountains in the distance, the beautiful campus, and I found myself yearning to agree to Alison's requests that I stay. But my heart kept thinking of Levi and what he wanted for the both of us. This wasn't it and it almost put me in physical pain to listen to what my head was telling me - to listen to Alison and stay in Missoula.

"I think I need to go home and talk this over with my family," I finally said as we headed back to the parking lot. Of course, I was still lying. I had no intention on going back home. Not right away, at least.

Alison sighed. "Okay," she said. She handed me her cell phone. "Do you have a cell number or anything I can reach you at?"

I programmed my cell number into her phone.

"I've had it turned off, so I might not answer when you call. I've been avoiding my family," I reminded her.

She nodded. "I know." She squeezed me into a hug and I hopped back into the Rabbit.

I pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the expressway. I took a right and merged onto I-90.

* * *

I didn't pay any attention to where I was going. For some reason, I actually wanted to get lost - wind up somewhere where I had no idea where I was going. So I lazily took every exit south I could find, stopping off different exits to look at new things, exploring. When I saw the welcome sign for the state of Utah, I smiled. "Still the Right Place." Well, that seemed reassuring enough.

The land was flat and there were mountains in the distance still. But it looked absolutely wide-open and gorgeous. I could finally breathe. I felt free as a bird. And I didn't want to go back home at all.

Until the searing pain richocheted through my chest. I winced and swerved over to the side of the road. I breathed heavily through it. It was getting worse and worse and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I knew it was the pain of the imprint and that Levi missed me terribly. Truthfully, I knew I missed him too. I had been gone five days now and the pain was becoming almost unbearable.

My philosophy was that it could only get worse before it got better. But this current "worse" part was horrible, gut-wrenching, and sadistic.

I wiped the tears from my eyes as the pain subsided. I pulled off the exit and realized that I was in Salt Lake City. Another college town... the home of the University of Utah.

I looked around the University a bit. It backed up to a forest and the campus itself seemed nice enough. Okay, so that was an overstatement. It was beautiful and again, I found myself falling in love with the college atmosphere.

It was five o'clock in the afternoon and I found myself hungry again. Instead of spending another night in the Rabbit, I decided to go find a hotel.

After driving around, I soon realized the one thing I'd overlooked. Hotels in Salt Lake were _expensive._ I decided to drive out a bit more. I jumped back on the expressway and headed a bit further south. I got off the exit in Midvale and found a Motel 6. $32 a night. Seemed perfectly reasonable.

I headed upstairs and took a shower. I looked horrible - my hair was greasy and I hadn't put on make-up or showered or anything since I'd left Missoula. I put on a nice black dress and matching pumps and decided to take myself out on the town.

I hopped back in the Rabbit and drove back up to Salt Lake and found a nice place called The Bayleaf Cafe. It was Friday and the dinner crowd was just starting to show up.

"Hey there," a voice said behind me as I cautiously walked up to the building.

A rather cute guy spoke up to me. He was obviously Latin-American of some kind and had warm brown eyes that painstakingly reminded me of Levi's.

"You're alone?" he asked. "Why? Someone as beautiful as you must have a date dressed like that," he grinned.

"Actually, no. I'm here by myself. Road trip," I shrugged. "I decided to leave the boyfriend at home and go sight-seeing."

The cute guy nodded, extending his hand. "I'm Diego Rodriguez. Even if you have a boyfriend, we can still sit and chat, right? There's no point in either of us eating alone."

I looked at him warily before sighing. Surely, he wouldn't try anything in a crowded restaurant full of people.

"So, are you from here?" I asked him as we sat down. We gave the waitress our drink orders and then he answered my question.

"Actually, no," he said, laughing. "I'm traveling, too. I'm in Salt Lake on business. I'm a law student," he explained. "I'm here working for the summer at the university on a partnership they have with my own university. I'm from Seattle," he explained.

"Seattle?" I gaped.

"Yeah, I know, I'm a long way from home," he grinned.

"I'm actually from Washington, myself," I said. "My family lives on the La Push Native American reservation," I explained.

"Really?" he said. "Are you here looking for colleges or..."

"I just needed to get away. I hopped in my car and ended up here," I explained.

"You _drove_ here?" Diego asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," I sighed. "My boyfriend and I actually got into it over something really stupid," I sighed, finally letting my thoughts travel back to Levi and the whole broken-condom fiasco. It seemed like so long ago.

"Well, if it's really stupid, then I'm sure he's anxious and waiting to hear from you," he shrugged. "I would be... if you were my girlfriend."

I smiled briefly.

"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "_Por favor, _please excuse my immodesty."

"No, it's no problem," I said.

"I'm actually supposed to be heading home in another week or two. How long were you planning on staying here before you go back to La Push?" Diego asked.

"I'm not sure. I really should be getting back before the summer's over," I replied.

"Well, I could accompany you," he suggested. "It's really not safe for a young woman to be walking around town and driving such a long way by herself." He looked genuinely concerned. "And if you really want to do a background check on me, I promise I am a legal resident of the United States, I am a naturalized citizen, and I have a social security number and I pay taxes."

I found myself laughing.

Diego smiled. "My mother actually lives in Port Angeles. Right near the harbor and the Coast Guard Air Station."

He did seem to know the area well. Perhaps he wasn't lying.

"I still don't know you very well," I said.

"True," Diego admitted. "But we can change that. Tell me a bit more about yourself. Other than you're obviously mostly Native American and you have a reason to be in Salt Lake City. And that you're real. Because obviously, you do look like a vision and I think I may have gone crazy and started imagining things."

I blushed.

Diego and I sat in The Bayleaf Cafe for over three hours, talking and eating dinner. He paid the waiter and then put down a generous tip on the table, too. At the end of our dinner, I decided to stay in Salt Lake and get to know him better. Perhaps I had made a new friend.

It was nearly nine o'clock and I was exhausted. Diego walked me out to my car and smiled brilliantly at me.

"Now don't be a stranger, Miss Norah. You have my number. Give me a call sometime tomorrow and we'll have lunch."

I blushed even brighter.

"Sure," I said awkwardly.

I got into my car and headed back to Midvale.

Once I got back into my hotel room, the searing pain erupted through my chest again. Damn the stupid imprint. I hated that it could control me like that. It was jealous of the friendship I'd forged with someone who wasn't Levi, someone who quite obviously was interested in me as more than a friend, even though I knew that I loved Levi and didn't have the capacity to love someone else. It was punishing me.

* * *

_I know it's been a while since I've updated, but today was my son's first birthday party! I've been really busy with school and things lately as well, since the semester's just started!_

_But hopefully this chapter had enough suspense for you!_

_Review Question: Do you like the character of Diego so far? Do you think he has an ulterior motive in getting to know Norah? Or do you just think he thinks she's pretty and wants to get to know her?_

_Please review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	25. Futile

Chapter 25 - Futile

* * *

**A/N: **Obviously, I do not own Twilight. I am working on becoming a published author, but until then, I waste time using Stephenie Meyer's characters to create my own characters, if that makes any sense. LOL. So yes, I do own Norah and Rowan Black and Levi Uley and Charley Clearwater. :D

Chapter is in Levi's POV again.

* * *

Jacob and I had split off from Charley and Embry to search for Norah. I was surprised that Jacob had sacrificed spying and intervening in his other daughter's relationship long enough to help me find Norah without going crazy. I knew that had I been forced to endure this trip with Charlotte Clearwater, I probably would have just decided to jump off a cliff and said to hell with it all.

I could see that Jacob missed his daughter. I knew the two of them had been close, but Jacob had no idea how much pain I was going through. Norah was in my thoughts, in my dreams, and no matter how hard I tried, the desperate need to be with her was so strong that I was literally in pain. It hurt so bad. I couldn't see, couldn't think, couldn't move. The pain basically immobilized me. That's why it took us so long to get anywhere. It took us almost a whole day to make it to the University of Oregon. No luck. So, we'd turned around and headed to back to Seattle to check up on a few other leads.

Someone in Seattle had seen a beat-up, rusty old Volkswagon Rabbit traveling east on some interstate. I hadn't really been able to pay much attention to what the person in the gas station was saying. I was too wired, too frustrated, too worried to even rationally think that some stranger that didn't even know my imprint would have the capacity to know where the hell she'd gone. But Jacob apparently thought that east suggested one of the other colleges on Norah's list - the University of Montana, located in a city called Missoula.

It took us a long while, but we made it to Missoula. We went to the University Police Department and told them that we were looking for a missing girl, age eighteen, who had vanished from the La Push Native American reservation. The police officer had looked at Jacob and I strangely and when Jacob said that her name was Norah Black, his eyes narrowed in recognition.

"You must be her family," he had said. "Norah warned us that you would be looking for her and strictly told us not to disclose her whereabouts."

At that point, Jacob growled viciously. "You know where my daughter is and from the way you're beating around the bush about it, you're helping to hide her."

"Mr. Black, your daughter isn't in this town, I can assure you that. She stayed with us for a day or so. She left last week but told me and my family not to disclose where she was going. She said that she didn't exactly have a place to go in mind, but she knew that if she stayed here long enough you'd find her. She didn't say why she was running in the first place, but now that the two of you have shown up, I seem to know exactly why. Now if you don't get off of the University property, I'll lock the two of you up overnight for trespassing."

Jacob's eyes narrowed even more and he started shaking uncontrollably.

"Jake - Jacob, come on. We'll find her. She's not here," I said, not wanting him to phase in front of the police. Obviously, we looked weird enough coming up here and demanding to know where Norah had gone. Two big hairy wolves running around the University of Montana would create a national sensation, one that Jacob would probably beat me for later.

He slowly calmed down.

"Buddy, if I don't find my daughter, your ass will be mine," he threatened.

We turned around and headed out of the campus.

"Something tells me we need to head south," I found myself saying. "I don't know why, but something's telling me to." I couldn't explain it. There was a warmth in my chest pushing backward as I stood in front of Jacob. I realized that Jacob was facing southward and I, in fact, was facing north. The warmth in my chest was pushing backward, southward. I couldn't figure out what it was.

"Are you sure?" Jacob asked. "I mean, she just as easily could have gone further east, across the Rockies, or north to Canada..." he trailed off.

"But there's nothing for her in Canada," I insisted. "And the Rabbit would have never made it over the Rocky Mountains."

"True," he sighed. "Alright," he said. "Come on." We headed into a nearby park and phased, tying our clothes back to our legs.

* * *

We stopped for the night just past Rexburg, Idaho. Once again, the pain had pretty much taken over. I couldn't move, couldn't think, and couldn't figure out what direction we needed to take. Jacob sighed and we decided to stop at Yellowstone National Park. It was a beautiful park, but I couldn't even think or move to enjoy the view. Once again, I was shaking through spasms of pain. I curled up into a ball and buried my nose in my fur, trying to muffle my whimpers.

Jacob looked over at me pitifully.

_We'll find her, Levi. I promise, if it's the last thing I do, I'll find her._

_Hey, Jacob? _Charlotte was thinking now, her thoughts filled with anxiety.

_What?_ Jacob asked, momentarily distracted from my physical and emotional pain.

_We have a small problem_, Embry said bitterly.

_What's that? _Jacob asked, his eyes getting big.

_Two more wolves phased,_ Charlotte said. Her thoughts showed another steel gray wolf and a black wolf with a white spot on his chest.

Jacob shook in anger._ What the hell? The damn Cullens are causing this again! _he roared in outrage.

_Will and Aiden, _Embry said. _Actually, Aiden phased before we even left. Seems like he's been running through the woods. Seth and Leah found him after Emily and Sam realized that he hadn't come back. I guess they figured he was out with Rowan or something... And most of us were distracted by Norah going missing. _

I was able to tear myself away from the physical pain I was feeling to contribute a bit to the conversation.

_Briony said that Aiden wasn't in his room the other night, but no one caught it. We were all panicking about the fact that Norah had disappeared._

_True_, Jacob said. _But still! It's our responsibility to make sure that nothing like this happens!_

_It was an accident, Jacob,_ Charley replied. _He's fine now and he understands that the pack was a little bit chaotic since Norah disappeared and half the pack had gone to look for her. _

_Aiden's a good-natured kid. He thinks it's cool that he gets to be like his older brother,_ Emby said, stifling a laugh.

_And Will? _Jacob asked. _Is he okay?_

_I think he was a little shaken at first, but that's completely normal. He didn't fight it like Rowan did, _Embry replied. _He said that he'll do whatever he's supposed to do. He said he'd put in his time when he was needed, but like Rowan, he doesn't really want it to control him._

_Well, we don't all get that option_, I seethed. _Watch him imprint and then he'll probably go through the same thing I'm going through._

_Levi! _Charley chastized me.

_Well, it's true,_ I said. _Had Norah not disappeared, I wouldn't be going through this right now._

_Well, we're heading further south, _Embry said, changing the subject._ We're in Sacremento right now. We're going to head to Los Angeles and look around there and then we're going to head over to Phoenix. Since Bella was originally from Phoenix, Norah could have gone there._

_Makes sense, _Jacob replied. _I think we're going to cut through the Shoshone Forest and then head toward Denver. That's a rather large city and Norah could have easily decided to go there. She was in Missoula, but left by the time we got there._

_Alright, _Embry said. _We'll check in later if we find anything interesting._

_Oh, and Embry? _Jacob said sweetly. _Please keep your hands to yourself, _he growled.

_Sure thing, _Embry laughed.

They pulled back out of our range and soon, the dead quiet set in.

_Jacob, you're not mad at me, are you? _I found myself asking.

_For what? You didn't cause all of this,_ Jacob replied. _You didn't tell Norah to run away._

_No, _I conceded. _But she ran away because I was a fool and messed things up. Our relationship wasn't ready for a pregnancy scare. We're just kids and we got in the heat of the moment and then royally fucked things up._

_I'll excuse the pun, _Jacob said dryly. _Look, I'd be stupid and naive if I told the two of you not to have sex. That would be completely hypocritical of me since I was only seventeen when Norah was born. We had sex with the intentions of having a baby because Bella was going to marry a bloodsucker and she wanted a child before she didn't have the opportunity anymore. I wouldn't take back that decision because it led to Bella choosing me over the bloodsucker. So yes, I probably overreacted a bit. What father wouldn't try to protect his daughter if he could? I can't tell you how many times Charlie begged me not to hurt Bella emotionally. Sure, it happened here and there. I was just lucky he liked me more than Cullen. _

_I'm not saying that the two of you should go ahead and start a family _now. _I'd much prefer it if you waited first and got married after Norah finishes her online coursework and stuff. But if it happened, it really wouldn't be the end of the world. And I'd do my best to be understanding, just like I am now. I mean, yeah, it does tick me off a bit that you had sex with my baby girl. And I really don't want to have to think about it because that's just... _awkward. _And definitely not my place. But I like you, Levi. You're a good kid. You've got my daughter's best interests at heart and you're her imprint. The two of you are young and in love. You just need to work on timing a little more and not letting your hearts and fantasies of the future get in the way of you having a strong and lasting relationship._

The pain had ebbed a little and I was finally able to move again. I got up and turned around and made myself a little more comfortable.

_Thanks, Jake_, I replied.

_No problem. Just take what I said to heart. And don't mess things up again. And now, if you don't mind, I'm going to try to get some sleep. It's been a long day and we have to try to get to Denver tomorrow._

I groaned. It was going to be a long trip. And for some reason, I wasn't even sure if Norah _was_ in Denver.

* * *

_Another kind of short chapter. But I've written about 5,000 words in two days, so woot. :)_

_Review question: Should Norah stay in Salt Lake or travel somewhere else?_

_Thanks for reading! Please review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	26. Cataclysm

Chapter 26 - Cataclysm

* * *

**A/N: **Obviously, I do not own Twilight. I am working on becoming a published author, but until then, I waste time using Stephenie Meyer's characters to create my own characters, if that makes any sense. LOL. So yes, I do own Norah and Rowan Black and Levi Uley and Charley Clearwater. :D

Chapter is in Norah's POV again.

* * *

Another week passed.

Time seemed to be speeding up and the distractions in my life were definitely welcome. I didn't feel like stressing over stupid things that I had no control over.

I was spending more time with Diego, too. Despite my earlier wariness and confusion, he was actually a great guy. Very straightforward. This was something that took me a little time to get used to, considering that Levi was pretty much the antithesis of straightforwardness. We ate somewhere else each night and for the first time in my life, I didn't feel forgotten.

I hadn't bothered to turn my phone back on. It was at the bottom of my suitcase in the beat-up dingy hotel room that I only went to at night to sleep. It was nice not having people on my back, trying to find me. For the most part, La Push was all but forgotten. Until I got those spams at night that kept me awake, writhing in pain.

I still missed Levi. But I was learning to function without him. For the first time, I was starting to feel like a whole person.

Diego came and picked me up in Midvale in his yellow Ford Escape. We had decided to go do some sight-seeing around the Great Salt Lake. I hadn't been to see the actual Lake yet. It was nice having someone listen to me - I'd missed having conversations with Levi since I'd left La Push.

"You look beautiful, _mi cariño bella_," Diego said as I jumped into the passenger side seat.

"What did you just call me?" I asked, frowning in confusion at his use of Spanish.

"It means 'beautiful sweetheart,'" Diego said, looking out his rearview mirror. "And put on your seatbelt, _por favor_."

I buckled my seatbelt, unvoluntarily blushing.

"Did you bring a bathing suit?" he asked. I nodded.

We drove to the Great Salt Lake Marina from Midvale. The trip took us a little over half an hour.

Diego parked the Escape and we went out to the shoreline. The first thing I noticed was the large rings around the outside of the Lake.

"What are those?" I asked him.

"The Lake fluctuates a lot. It's on a rather flat plain and the whole lake itself averages about thirteen or fourteen feet deep. It's also really salty because it doesn't have an outlet."

"So are we going fishing or what?" I asked, looking back at the Escape.

Diego laughed. "_Cariño, _there aren't any fish in this lake. It's too salty."

I blushed at my obvious stupidity. In order to change the subject, I pulled off my shirt and pants, revealing my simple one-piece bathing suit. It was a dark navy blue.

"Come on," I told Diego. He pulled off his shirt and came to join me.

I noticed that he was built - not quite as much as Levi, who had the whole werewolf thing on his side, but he was still nice to look at. He smiled brilliantly at me and took my hand and led me out to the Lake. It was warm and I found myself floating. The Lake wasn't deep at all.

"The density is so high that it makes it easy to float," he explained due to my obvious surprise.

A huge white pelican soared down, picking up some algae near my hand. I jumped in surprise.

"He likes you," Diego laughed. "He must have good taste."

I smiled. "He's pretty," I said. "Other than the whole scary swooping down part."

"True," Diego said, smiling.

We swam for a bit in the Lake, talking about Diego's law school issues - he was a first year and at the top of his class - and what I planned on doing once I got back to La Push.

"I've been thinking of just taking online classes through SU," I said quietly. "I guess that's the best part of this trip - getting to realize what _I _really want without having to worry about people pressuring me to do what _they_ want."

"You have to do what's best for you, _mi amiga_," Diego said, shrugging.

I knew that one. My friend. And he was right. Both about school and us being friends. He was a friend. And becoming a better one. I liked him. He was easy to be around and made me think about what I wanted and didn't try to influence me like people had tried to do back home.

"_Cierto_," I replied, using my limited means of Spanish.

He smiled broadly and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm just glad that this experience had finally led you to become your own person," Diego replied.

We relaxed in the Lake. I floated on my back, looking up at the sky and feeling the sun's warm rays. I got to thinking. I let my mind travel and of course, it went straight back to Levi and everything that we had been through.

"You know, I can't believe it's already August," Diego said. "I'll need to be going back to Seattle in a few days. Are you still coming with me?" he asked. "Or have you fallen in love with this Lake and decided you don't want to leave?"

"When are you leaving?" I asked him.

"Probably Wednesday," he said. It was already Monday.

"I suppose I can come with you," I replied.

"The Escape could easily pull your little bitty Rabbit all the way to Seattle. That way, you wouldn't have to drive back alone," he offered.

"True," I said. "I'd like that."

He smiled.

We lapsed back into silence again. It was August second, I reasoned. We would be back by the fifth, most likely, if we kept our timing well.

I sighed and let my mind travel some more. And then I sat up. It was August second. My period was three days late. And I was never late. Ever.

"Diego, do you think we could run to the drug store?" I asked him suddenly. "Like, after we leave here?"

"Sure," Diego said. "Do you need anything in particular?"

"I just need to pick up a few things," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. Because there was no reason to panic at all. I had been under stress and I just needed to make sure things were normal. Like any responsible woman would do.

"Okay," Diego replied. "Do you want to go ahead and go now?"

"Sure," I said, standing up. We swam back to shore and I ran into the restrooms near the Marina and changed back into my normal clothes. When I came back out, Diego had already changed his pants.

I calmly hopped back into the car and we headed to the nearest Walgreens. I went straight to the back of the store and bought a First Response Pregnancy test. I couldn't believe I was doing this. It was quite possibly insane. I wasn't old enough to even drink alcohol, let alone handle the possibility of being _pregnant._

I put the bag in my purse and headed back out to the car.

"Okay," I told Diego. "I got what I needed. Just some female... stuff," I said when he gave me a quizzical look.

"We could go to my place. I've got an apartment in the city. I'm still packing, obviously. I didn't bring much so there's not really much I have left to do other than carry the stuff out to the car. Not that you have to help me pack, but we could watch a movie or something."

"Sure," I replied.

We headed out of the Walgreens parking lot and jumped back on I-80 eastbound, back to the city.

Diego's apartment was located right around the corner from The Bayleaf Cafe. It was nice, very minimalist. I really liked it. Everything Diego owned seemed to be in boxes. He had been right when he said he was ready to leave.

I headed into the bathroom while Diego was putting lasagna in the oven.

I nervously pulled out the pregnancy test and took it, crossing my fingers as the test developed. I closed my eyes and sat on the toilet, praying to God that the result was negative.

Diego knocked on the door and I jumped out of my skin.

"Norah, _cariño_, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I replied. "I'll be out in a second."

"Well, I'm putting the movie in," he said. "Star Wars: A New Hope."

I liked that movie. It was one of my favorites. The surprise revelation that we had something else in common distracted me briefly from the task at hand.

I got up and walked back over to the sink and looked back down at the test.

In the second window, there was a line, faint and barely visible, but it was there. The test was positive and I was positively _pregnant._

Holy fucking shit.

Obviously, my time out and about on the road had come to a crashing halt. I swallowed stiffly and held my tears at bay.

I had to go home.

I picked up the test and put it back in the box and put the box in the bag and wrapped it up, sticking it down in my purse.

"Diego?" I called, coming out of the bathroom.

"Hey Norah - wait, what's wrong?" he looked concerned.

"I have to go home," I told him.

"Home as in your hotel room or home as in _home, _home?" he asked. "_Mi cariño, _you look upset. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I replied. "I just need to go home. My parents are probably looking for me and I've been gone for two weeks and I'm sure there's all sorts of hell going on at the reservation and I miss Levi and it's all just - " I broke off, dissolving into tears.

"Just hitting you now," Diego finished. "Well, let me put this stuff into boxes and we'll head back to Seattle. Do you want to call your family and tell them that you're coming back home?"

I nodded. I really just needed to talk to my mom. Just to hear some reassurance that everything would be okay. I was in shock and I didn't know what to do. I paced back and forth and Diego led me over to the couch and handed me his cell phone.

I dialed in my mother's cell phone number and the phone rang. She picked up instantly.

"Jacob, have you heard any more news?" she asked frantically.

"Mom, it's me. Norah," I said, her voice calming me down and soothing my nerves.

"Oh, Norah, honey... you're in Seattle! But Levi and Jacob and Charley and Embry already scoured _through_ Seattle! I talked to your father and he said that he was in Albuquerque and Embry and Charley were in Phoenix... They've pretty much scoured the entire Western United States looking for you! Norah!" She wasn't chastizing me at all. She just seemed worried.

"I'm in Salt Lake City, Mom," I said. "I met a friend who's from Seattle and he's letting me use his phone. That's why it's a Seattle number," I explained.

"Norah Jane, what on_ earth_ are you doing in Salt Lake City?" Mom gasped.

"It's a long story and I'll explain more when I come home. I'm just letting you know that we're on our way back to Seattle. My friend Diego is putting his things into his car right now and then we're going to go pick up the Rabbit and then we're heading back home."

"Oh thank God," Mom replied, sounding like her old self for once. I couldn't help but smile, despite the seriousness of the situation.

"But um, Mom," I said nervously, the terror rising into my throat. "I have to tell you something and you _cannot_ tell Dad. Not until I get back home and fix things."

"What's wrong, honey?" she asked, sensing my nervousness.

I looked around and Diego was nowhere to be seen.

"Literally five minutes ago, I just found out that I'm... umn... pregnant. The baby's Levi's," I deadpanned. "And I know you're going to be disappointed, but I decided to take online classes at SU and I'm sure there's still some time for me to get in and I'm _so_ sorry for sending Dad and Levi and Embry and Charley on such a long trip -" I started bawling again.

"Oh, honey," Mom said. "It's okay. There are worse things that could have happened. I'm just glad you're okay. And we'll get through this together, as a family, I promise. And your father will be okay with it and if it's not, I'll _make_ him be okay with it."

"Oh, Mom," I cried, blubbering profusely.

"Just get your butt home as soon as possible. I miss you, Norah. It really hasn't been the same here without you."

"I'm sorry I ran away. And tell Dad that I miss him and that I love him, okay?" I asked.

"Of course," Mom said warmly. "I'll see you when you get here, honey."

"Okay," I said. "Bye, Mom."

"Bye, honey," she replied. And then the line went dead and my heart stopped.

I knew my life was about to turn upside-down. And it absolutely petrified me.

But when I thought about it, it really did all make sense. No wonder I had missed Levi so much. The imprint had been made stronger because Levi and I had created a baby - a baby that needed its mother _and_ father. It was time for me to stop being selfish and to go back to where I belonged. With Levi in La Push.

* * *

_Yeah, yeah, yeah... Roadtrip's over. Sorry guys. And I got mixed reviews about this question earlier and then I got to writing and I realized that something other than the imprint had to make Norah go back to Levi - so she didn't seem a slave to the imprint._

_So I know this seems a bit repetitive, but it's definitely not going to be. :) Promise. I'll probably wrap this story up within the next five to seven chapters or so. Or at least, I'll try to._

_Review question: Should the next chapter (which will include Norah's homecoming) be in Levi's POV or Charley's? Make sure you say why. :D_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	27. Nightmare

Chapter 27 - Nightmare

* * *

**A/N: **Obviously, I do not own Twilight. I am working on becoming a published author, but until then, I waste time using Stephenie Meyer's characters to create my own characters, if that makes any sense. LOL. So yes, I do own Norah and Rowan Black and Levi Uley and Charley Clearwater. :D

Surprise! Chapter is in **both** Norah and Levi's point of view. Sorry for the confusion. I wrote half the chapter in the wrong POV on accident. Whoops. And this chapter is a bit longer. =]

* * *

**Norah's POV**

The trip back to Seattle was the longest trip I'd ever taken. Diego seemed to understand the necessity in which I needed to return home, so we made pretty decent timing. The worst part about the entire trip was the sense of dread I felt as we came neared Washington State . I knew both Dad and Levi were going to be insanely pissed off at me for running off like I had. And I hoped the entire pack wouldn't be standing guard around Seattle when we got back, either. Diego's safety was probably in jeopardy, but telling him that a bunch of jealous wolves were going to be anticipating our arrival probably wouldn't have made much sense, either.

"You okay?" Diego asked, looking over at me as we headed eastbound on I-84. "You're rather quiet."

I nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little nervous about going home," I said.

"You still haven't told me what's up," he replied, glancing over at me. "Any reason we had to stop our excursion short by a couple of days?"

"I've been really stressed lately," I said, not wanting to get to the point.

"All the more reason to stay away from Washington for a couple of days," Diego persisted. "Did I say or do something that offended you? Because if I have, I'm truly sorry. I never wanted to come off brashly. I understand that you're in a committed relationship and that obviously, I have no chance."

I found myself blushing.

"Diego, you haven't offended me at all. I just spoke with my mom and she said that they are really worried about me and I haven't kept in touch at all since I've been gone. My dad's probably going through the roof right now," I added.

Diego nodded. "Is that the only reason you felt you needed to go back? Your parents?"

"And my boyfriend," I added. "As much as I've not spoken about him, Levi really does mean a lot to me. I've missed him like crazy."

"The two of you are serious," Diego inferred. "He treats you well?"

"He loves me more than I even deserve," I said, thinking back on the conversation I'd had with Alison Thompson in Missoula … how I had told her that the marriages on the reservation were arranged. Sure, they weren't exactly traditional, but they were a far cry from being _arranged_.

"I doubt that," Diego said. "You deserve much more than I think you let yourself believe."

I didn't answer him right away.

"Yeah, right," I said, making a face. Diego really had no clue as to what I'd done to everyone I'd cared about. I'd pushed them away and been a real idiot. Not only that, but I'd basically begged Levi to have sex with me and then pushed him away afterwards just because we were two idiots and the condom broke. Diego had no idea that I was carrying someone else's child – and that really just made things infinitely worse. What was even more horrible was the fact that I was allowing him to subtly hit on me, not even stopping him because I knew that I was going to be tied to the reservation for the rest of my life with a bunch of stinking dogs.

"I'm not going to keep on trying to convince you," Diego said, shrugging. "You're a beautiful girl, Norah. I just wish you'd understand that most guys would kill for someone like you. Even guys who live in a place like Seattle and like to travel a bit. As long as I've known you, you've seemed unhappy with the prospect of sitting at home knitting for the rest of your life."

"Diego," I said, shaking my head. "I do want more than just the reservation," I said. "But it's home and it's where I've grown up and it's where I belong."

"Home is where your heart is," Diego said. "Is your heart in La Push with your boyfriend or is it out in the mountains of Missoula or the Great Salt Lake where we met? Home could be just about anywhere you decide you want it to be. I don't think your heart is in La Push. I think it's somewhere else… somewhere where you can stretch your wings and be anyone you want to be. You don't have to be a La Push housewife, Norah."

As much as I wanted everything he was saying, I knew that that wasn't going to be something I would be able to have. I could either have La Push and Levi or I could jump at the opportunity to leave. But the imprint meant that I could never leave Levi… and this baby just tied me to him even more.

"I don't have a choice," I said quietly.

"What do you mean? You do!" Diego insisted.

"No, Diego," I replied. "I don't. I'm pregnant."

Diego's jaw dropped and he focused on the expanse of highway in front of us. He didn't respond right away.

"I just found out before we left. That's why I have to go back home. It isn't right for me to keep going on this insane road trip when Levi is waiting for me back home. I didn't even tell him I was leaving. I just got up and ran away. I've been gone for almost a month now, Diego. You know he has to be going crazy, worrying about me. And now it's not even just me he has to worry about. There's a child involved."

"You could tell him it's mine," Diego said. "You could run away from La Push and never look back. I would do that for you if it meant that you could have a life outside of the reservation."

I smiled at the kind gesture.

"No, Diego," I said, shaking my head. "I couldn't do that to him. He's too good of a person to have his child taken away from him. Besides, I think my mother will understand. She had me at an early age. She didn't seem entirely angry on the phone, either. I mean, sure, we'll probably get married when we get back and I won't have as many opportunities as what someone else would have who didn't go through all of this right after high school," I shrugged.

"It's not fair," Diego said. "It's not fair that you have to give up all of your dreams over this," he added, getting frustrated.

"But again, it's my life and not anyone else's. I brought this on myself," I replied. "It's time for me to grow up and face facts."

I looked out the window and realized we were entering Washington . My cell phone was in my hand and it vibrated, signaling that I had received a text message.

_I miss you._

_-Levi_

It was the simple gesture from Levi that sent my heart into my throat once more. Sure, this had been the seventy-third text I'd received from Levi since I'd left and I'd read each and every single one since I'd turned my phone back on, but had never responded.

_I'm in WA. I'm on I-84._

_-N_

I smiled to myself. Things would be better as soon as I saw Levi. Really, they would. I would soon have him back in my arms and we would figure this out together. He would be excited about the baby, even though right now, I felt like I was about to throw up and I really didn't want to have to deal with any of this considering I wasn't even old enough to legally consume alcohol.

_You're coming home?_

_-Levi_

Obviously, no one had told him that I'd talked to Mom nearly twelve hours beforehand and that we were almost to Seattle . I grinned. Even though I couldn't see his face, I could feel his enthusiasm.

_We're almost to Seattle . Meet me off the exit?_

_-N_

Diego looked over at me.

"Texting your boyfriend?" he asked. I knew he was jealous and I felt bad. He really had been nice to me and there was nothing I could do to make that go away. I hadn't meant to lead him on and at that particular moment, I realized that no matter how often I had rejected his advances, he still had feelings of some sort for me.

_Meet you there, beautiful. Can't wait to see your smiling face._

_-Levi_

Two hours later, we were getting off of the exit. I couldn't believe it. I was ridiculously exhausted and perhaps slightly delirious, but we had finally made it to Seattle .

We got off of the exit and drove up the road to a nearby gas station where I had promised the pack that I would meet them. We drove through the intersection in front of the gas station and a tow truck driving toward the gas station from the other side of the intersection sped through the red light, coming right toward my side of the truck.

I saw it coming from the corner of my eye and immediately scrambled to get out of the way. I literally jumped into Diego's lap as he tried to swerve to get us out of harms' way. I screamed for dear life and suddenly, everything went black.

* * *

**Levi's POV**

My heart was beating so fast and I was so excited to see her. Her long black hair, her fair skin, her big brown eyes that I could stare into all day. She was almost here.

I told her I would meet her by the exit, at the gas station right off of I-84. I didn't care that she had ran off for nearly a month. I didn't care what the reason was behind it. I just wanted to see her face, to hold her in my arms once more.

_I think that's her_, Charley piped up from my left-hand side. _See the Rabbit being pulled by the Ford Escape?_

Sure enough that was Jake's old Rabbit. But why was it being pulled by another car? Had she broken down somewhere? And who was the guy driving the car?

The light turned green and the Escape turned toward the gas station. Suddenly, a huge tow truck came rushing through the red light and smashed into the passenger's side of the Escape.

And I heard a high-pitched, terrifyingly blood-curdling scream as the Escape was pushed across the road and into a nearby utility pole.

"Oh my god," Jacob gasped behind me. He phased and pulled on his shorts and ran to the scene before I could even blink. I was right behind him, not sure how I managed to phase or get my shorts on either.

My heart was pounding through my chest. I didn't know what I was going to find. She wasn't hurt… she couldn't be hurt at all! This was my Norie, my invincible Norah Jane, who had wrestled me more times than I could count when we were little kids… and won.

We came upon the scene and the Ford Escape was crunched, the passenger side completely crushed in. The man driving the car was panicking. I didn't care who he was or what he was doing or saying.

But suddenly, I locked eyes on Norah – and she wasn't moving. Her head was bleeding and she wasn't conscious.

"Someone call 911!" the guy said, looking dazed. "Don't move her!" he snapped at Jacob.

"That's my daughter and I'll damn right do whatever the hell I want!" Jacob roared at him.

"Seriously," the guy said. "Don't move her. She's not conscious and she's pregnant!"

I felt like someone had punched the living daylights out of me. I couldn't breathe. Norah was _pregnant?_ And how on earth did this bastard know? Surely she wouldn't have told some complete stranger before she would have told _me._

But then I started hyperventilating. I heard sirens in the distance and suddenly, I began to wonder. What exactly had Norah been up to for the last month? Was the baby –_ baby _– mine? Or had my Norie gone and gotten knocked up by someone else? Was this guy closer to my imprint than what first met the eye?

Charley was standing right next to me and she glared at me.

"You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking," she snapped. She was as white as a ghost and she looked sick to her stomach.

I went over to the side of the car that was bashed in and the driver of the tow truck got out, looking dazed.

"I am so sorry," he said. "I didn't realize that the light was red and I was distracted – "

"You damn well have better – " I started, walking toward the guy. He paled instantly.

Suddenly, Jacob jumped in front of me and before I knew what was going on, he'd punched the guy in the face. Charley and Embry were on him before I could bring myself to move and they pulled an irate Jacob off of the tow truck driver, who now sported a bloody lip.

"You better keep that guy under control!" he sputtered.

"You better watch what you're doing when you're driving!" I yelled, walking over to the guy. "My pregnant girlfriend is in that vehicle – "

Two ambulances and several police cars pulled into the gas station. Obviously, it was a slow crime day in Seattle .

I shut up instantly and ran back over to the car as EMS pulled out a stretcher and started pulling the Hispanic guy Norah was in the car with out of the mangled mess. They placed him on the stretcher and put him into the ambulance and it drove off.

A couple of the EMS people ran back to the remaining ambulance and returned with several weird looking machines. I frowned, but as soon as I heard the sound of metal separated, I realized that they were tearing the car apart to reach her. It made me sick to my stomach. I stood back with Jacob, Embry, and Charley and soon realized that they were using the 'Jaws of Life' to extract Norah from the car.

I sat down on the ground and helplessly looked around for anything I could do.

They pulled her out of the wreckage about ten minutes later and placed her on a stretcher. I ran over to the EMS workers and urgently informed them that she was pregnant. The words seemed strange coming out of my mouth and I choked as I spoke. One of the EMS workers nodded to me and offered me a spot in the ambulance as we headed to the University of Washington Medical Center.

I looked down at her while the EMS workers worked to stabilize her condition. I listened to them as the spoke to one another.

"Possibly broken leg," one of them said.

"Concussion," the other replied.

"She's lucky she didn't come out worse," the first said. "Any luck on finding a heartbeat on the baby?"

"I don't think she's far enough along yet," the second said.

The ambulance sirens turned back on and we pulled out of the parking lot of the gas station. I looked out the window and briefly noticed the tow truck driver being put into a squad car, the police officers questioning Charley, Embry, and Jacob.

I looked back over at Norah's slightly bruised face and sighed. A baby. Really? I was nervous and as much as I hoped that the two of them would be okay, I couldn't think or move. I was sick to my stomach with worry.

* * *

_Sorry the update was delayed. I've been distracted with school. :( Chemistry is kililng me and I'm considering dropping the course. Yuck._

_Review question: This really isn't a question, but... I won't be awful and kill off Norah... but the fate of the baby remains in question. =] Comments appreciated._

_Thanks for reading! Please review!_

Much love,  
xoxo


	28. Momentum

Chapter 28 – Momentum

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Nope! I don't own Twilight; just this trilogy. Obviously, I'm poor and still in college.

**A/N: **This one's in Charley's POV, for those of you who have missed her. :D And I'm so sorry this is late… I've had about ten million things going on lately (no exaggeration) and I almost got kicked out of college. No lie. Everything is fixed now, but this story had to take a backseat for a while. Obviously, it's short, but I kinda ran out of things to talk about this chapter and the next one should be a LOT better. So anyways, read on.

* * *

**Charley's POV**

Tuesday was agonizing. The longest day of my life. Norah was in surgery, having her leg reset. The doctors had told Jacob and Bella that it was necessary and as worried as Bella was about both Norah and the grandchild they hadn't even known existed, they knew that the surgery was necessary. Norah's leg was broken in three places and they didn't want permanent damage to occur to her leg.

Levi was a mess. He sat outside Norah's room while he was in surgery and didn't move a muscle. He didn't eat or sleep or do much of anything. I took a seat next to him and we both sighed breaths that I didn't even realize we were holding.

"It's gonna be fine," I told him. "Norah's tough. She'll make it through all of this," I promised him. I looked up and saw Sue and Charlie and Mom coming down the hall. Charlie looked panicked and Sue looked stricken.

"I swear, Norah Black and cars do _not_ mix," Sue said under her breath. Charlie looked over at Sue, rolling his eyes. Mom took a seat next to me.

"You okay, Char?" she asked, tucking a piece of my short hair behind my ear. "You need anything to eat or anything?"

"I'm fine, Mom," I said shortly. I couldn't see why she was worried about Norah in the first place. "Anyone hear anything on that Diego guy she was with?" I asked Levi.

He simply shook his head.

Jacob came down the hall, holding Bella's hand, while Rowan walked behind them, looking baffled and confused. Bella looked like a ghost – dark circles under her eyes and she looked thinner than usual.

"Diego Rodriguez is going to be fine. I think they're keeping him overnight for observation," Jacob said. "He got off rather easy – just a Grade 2 concussion."

Embry came back down the stairwell, joining us outside Norah's empty room. He had a Styrofoam cup in his hand. "Smoothie?" he asked, handing me the cup. I tasted it. Wild berry.

"Thanks," I said, scooting over a bit on the bench and giving him a seat. He took my hand and I nestled myself into him. Jacob glared at Embry and then sighed, shaking it off.

"Who is this Diego Rodriguez?" Mom asked, looking over at Jacob. "Is that the guy she was in the car with?"

"We were supposed to meet off the exit. He was driving and tried to make a left-hand turn into the gas station and the tow-truck was coming on the right and ran the red light and smacked right into Norah's side of the car," Levi groaned.

"So yes," Jacob said, "that was the guy she was riding with. We don't know exactly who he is or anything about him, but it looks like he was taking care of Norah."

"Is he conscious?" I asked Jacob.

"Yeah, as far as I know. Dr. Fang came up here a few minutes ago and said that he was able to find out that he's somewhere on the second floor."

Levi shrugged uncomfortably and I looked over at him.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he replied.

"Well, it's obviously something or you wouldn't be acting like that," I said, folding my arms.

The entire room grew quiet – Sue and Charlie stopped talking to Bella and Jacob, while Jacob glared at Levi. I could feel Embry wrap his arms around me, while my mother looked upon the entire situation with disapproval.

Levi blushed. "It doesn't matter," he said.

"You're just jealous because you think – "

I was cut off by Jacob who walked over and glared at Levi.

"Look, Levi," Jacob snapped. "I care about you as much as I do my own kids and I'm going to give you hell just like I do them whenever they do something stupid. You already knocked up my daughter and the worst thing you could do right now is try to weasel your way out of it. At the end of the day, it's your girlfriend and your child in that operating room and you better bet your left ass cheek that they are _both_ gonna come out of this just fine!"

"Jacob," Bella's voice was calm, yet wavery. "Honey, we're all stressed right now and it's not Levi's fault that Norah was in that car accident."

"Yeah, but it's his fault that he couldn't figure out how to keep that damn condom from breaking! Then we probably wouldn't even be _in_ this situation because she wouldn't have run off in the first place!"

"Jacob!" Mom snapped. "Do you seriously hear how much of an ass you're being right now?"

The focus of everyone in the entire room went from Jacob to Mom.

"Don't call my husband an ass," Bella said, stepping forward. "Last time I checked, you really don't have the right to do _any _talking." Bella's eyes locked on my mother, daring her to say another word. I swallowed, not sure what side to take or whom to tell to back off.

"Hello!" a cheerful voice interrupted, looking at all of us brightly. I turned around and saw the handsomely pale face and shocking platinum hair of Dr. Carlisle Cullen (who I could not refer to as Dr. Fang, no matter what Jacob thought).

"Is she alright?" Bella asked instantly, turning away from my mother and leaning into Jacob.

"She's doing better than the doctors first predicted. As you know, there was a risk to both her and the baby, but it seems like as of right now, they're both fine. We pegged her to be right around five weeks along, so not far enough along yet to get a steady heartbeat on the baby. But her leg is re-set wonderfully and they should be bringing her back to her room shortly. Guests are limited to two at a time and we'd like the rest of you guys to please wait out in the waiting room and not right outside her room."

Sue, Charlie, Mom and Embry led the way to the waiting room, while Levi stubbornly sat in the same place outside the door.

"Levi, perhaps we should let her parents go in first and then you can go in. Rowan and I can go in together, once you're finished," I pressed.

"I'm not moving," Levi said, crossing his arms across his chest. "This is where I'm supposed to be. Right here."

"I know," I answered. "But right now, I think Bella's about to pass out and I'm sure Jacob needs a moment alone with his family…" I pressed.

"But soon enough that family's going to include me whether he likes it or not," Levi growled.

I gave up and looked over at Rowan, who was as pale as a ghost.

"Come on, buddy," I said, taking him by the arm. "Let's go for a walk."

He slowly looked over at his parents, who were quietly conversing with Carlisle and then nodded back at me. I looked over at Embry who nodded in understanding and led my mother into the waiting room. They were followed by Sue and Charlie.

I took Rowan's hand and we headed down the hallway, the stark floors and bare walls seeming as empty as we both felt.

"You okay?" I finally asked as we went around the corner.

"Honestly?" Rowan asked, frowning. He ran one hand through his dark brown hair and sighed. "I'm so frustrated! I know Norah's three years older than me, but I've always felt like it's been my job to protect her somehow. To keep idiotic guys away from her. I feel like I've somehow failed… more because of the fact that I couldn't do anything to keep Norah from leaving and I couldn't do anything to keep her from getting hurt. And now I can't do anything to help her. I don't know why she decided to go and do something so stupid like getting knocked up. I mean…" he trailed off, sighing. "It's not my right to judge, but right now, I just feel like knocking Levi's head off for not thinking and not being _proactive_ about the situation."

His small speech was more than I'd ever heard him speak since I'd first met him. We continued to walk in silence.

"You know that's not true, right?" I finally said, looking over at him.

"What's not true?" Levi asked.

"It's not true that you failed at doing anything. I mean, if you failed at doing something or intervening or whatever, then I sure as hell didn't do anything either."

He was silent and kept his eyes locked down at his feet as we kept walking.

Finally, he spoke up. "He better marry her."

I could help but grimace. "You seriously think Norah is going to want to get married at eighteen? I think this little runaway trip of hers proved that quite well." I tried my best to keep the bitterness and sarcasm out of my voice.

"It'd still make me feel better," Rowan sighed.

"You see him sitting out there," I said, nodding back around the corner. "He's not moving. He loves Norah. I mean, he's basically been miserable the entire time she's been gone. I know you've been miserable, too, but she's his imprint. He's been in physical pain the entire time she's been gone and he's not holding up very well now that she's hurt. He's going through a lot right now and you have to realize that he's going to be there for both Norah and their baby. He won't let her down. Just let him prove himself, okay?" I asked, eyeing him carefully.

Rowan simply nodded.

"I'm just worried about my sister," he murmured.

"I know," I said, leaning into him and pulling him close into a hug. "It'll be alright. She'll be just fine."

"Physically or emotionally?" he asked, biting down on his bottom lip.

"Both," I stated emphatically. "Now come on," I said. "Let's get back and see what's going on with Norah."

He nodded and gave a small smile. "Thanks sis," he said softly.

I grabbed his hand and squeezed it and we headed back toward the waiting room.

* * *

_Yay! Charley/Rowan scene! Hope you guys enjoyed! :) I'll try to have the next chapter up this weekend… but no promises. :(_

_Review question: Should we have a Levi/Diego match-up? :) Part of me thinks that that would be amazing and the other part of me shudders. Haha._

_Please review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	29. Lost

Chapter 29 – Lost

* * *

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Twilight, I would be rich and I wouldn't be up to my eyeballs in debt due to student loans. Hmph.

**A/N: **First of all, I am not dead. Second of all, yes, I am super aware that it has been nearly six months since I have updated. I have had HUGE life changes since the last time I posted and I've been really stressed out. I ended up switching colleges and then got slammed with schoolwork because I ended up having to take two 500-level writing courses and so after writing nearly 100 pages of bullcrap on history and political science this semester, I really didn't feel like coming on here and writing. However, I'm on break right now and my birthday is on Sunday so I decided to take some time to write. Woo! I'll be 21! Yee haw!

* * *

My head hurt. I couldn't figure out why it hurt so bad or what the sterile smell was that surrounded me or why my eyes felt so heavy or what was on my face. I could hear voices.

"Levi, why don't you go get some rest? I can sit here with her for a while." It was a woman. She sounded worried and tired all wrapped up in one.

I didn't want Levi to leave.

He sighed. "She's never going to wake up, is she?" He sounded dejected and lost.

"Honey, we don't know that. Her levels look fine, according to Carlisle and both her and the baby are stable."

"Stable, but not changing," Levi sighed. She's missed out on so much, Bella, and she's been out for so long now... every day she doesn't wake up gives us less and less of a chance of ever seeing her again. The last thing I need is to be a single dad. The baby needs his mother."

"Levi, don't talk like that."

Her voice suddenly sounded harsh.

"It's true."

I heard the loud screech of the chair next to me and I felt Levi lean over me and felt his lips graze my cheek. And I felt something move, lower.

I forced my eyelids to flutter, to give some sort of a motion that I could hear them.

"Levi – " the woman's voice seemed to float closer. "Was that – "

"Did you see that?" Levi's voice raised excitedly. "Norah, Norah can you hear me?"

Norah. Did he mean _me_? I did it again, this time opening my eyes just enough to see two shapes moving in front of me.

"Oh, honey!" Levi pulled me close to him and suddenly, I felt whole... like I'd been missing something absolutely wonderful for a very long time.

"Levi," I murmured into his shoulder.

"Norah, are you okay? Are you feeling alright? Does your head hurt?" He pulled off some sort of mask off of my face, along with quite a bit of tape from my cheek. I winced.

"I'm fine." I said uncomfortably, ignoring the throbbing pain at my temples. I blinked at the woman with dark brown hair and dark circles under her eyes. Why was she in my hospital room?

"Who is she?" I asked.

Levi pulled back, a surprised expression on his face.

"What do you mean?"he asked, frowning.

"Who is that woman?" I asked again, looking over at her, waiting for her to introduce herself.

"Norah, I'm your mother..." the woman said softly, incomprehensibly. She looked hurt, taken aback.

_My mother?_ Was she pulling my leg? I hadn't seen the woman a day before in my life, let alone before now.

The funny feeling in my stomach continued... a mixture of seasickness and like a hamburger I'd eaten that had started waltzing in my stomach.

I lowered my hand to ease the nausea feeling and was shocked to find it quite a bit larger than I had remembered... and _round_.

It looked like I was pregnant. But surely I wasn't pregnant... Levi and I hadn't done anything that could result in pregnancy. But I fuzzily remembered him talking about a _baby_ and being a single dad...

My head started spinning and the nausea returned full-force.

"Levi," I murmured, my voice shaky and scared. What the hell was going on? Was this some strange nightmare?

"Shhh, honey, I'm here," he whispered in my ear, leaning toward me and wrapping his arms around me.

"Levi, I'll be back. I'm going to get Jacob and Carlisle. They should know she's woken up," the frail brown-haired woman sniffed, wrapping her arms around herself.

After she walked out of the room, Levi turned to me and kissed my forehead.

"Honey, do you really not remember Bella?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"Bella who?" I asked blankly. I couldn't remember what he was talking about. In fact, everything before I had woken up was completely blank. Not only could I not remember doing anything with Levi that could result in a baby, I couldn't remember anything at all. I couldn't remember who I was or anything – anything other than Levi Uley, that is. And I could remember _everything_ about Levi... other than getting pregnant... because that I certainly didn't remember. If I _was_ pregnant, that is. Because that seemed like the only logical explanation for why I had gotten so... fat. Well, not fat, exactly, but round and the weird feeling in my stomach...

Levi looked genuinely upset.

"Baby, what's wrong?" I asked, leaning against him.

"Do you remember Jacob? Rowan? Charlotte, Charlie, Sue... anybody?"

I shook my head. "Levi, I don't know what you're talking about."

He sighed with frustration this time. "What about the baby? Do you remember anything about being pregnant? Getting in a car crash with some Hispanic guy? Diego Rodriguez?"

"I'm pregnant?" I asked, looking down at my stomach... my belly. "I don't remember having sex... at all."

"You don't remember asking me to make love to you?" Levi asked in a strangled voice.

I shook my head sadly. "Levi, I wish that I could because I'm sure that it was amazing, but... I can't remember. I don't even know who I am or what's going on or who that woman was and when I woke up I didn't even know I was pregnant..." I trailed off. A sudden thought hit me. "Oh, God," I cried. "Levi, how far along am I?"

"The doctors have you pegged at 23 weeks right now," Levi said. You've been out for over four months straight. We didn't think you were ever going to wake up. They said you were in a persistent coma..." he trailed off.

"Is the baby okay?" I asked, trying to form my mind around such a strange concept. I was going to be a mother? Were Levi and I even ready for this? How old were we anyway? I didn't remember.

"He's been fine. Absolutely fine through all of this."

"It's a boy?" I asked, blinking.

"Yes," Levi said, smiling. "They told me a couple of weeks ago. Put it right in a little envelope to save until you woke up. But I opened the envelope with you right after we got back to the room, discussed names with you... of course, I didn't know if you could hear me or not..."

"Norah?" a man's voice called from the door. "You're awake?"

He was excited, I could see that. And impossibly tall. And rather handsome. And once again, I didn't know who he was. I could feel a connection... I had seen him before somewhere. But I didn't know his name.

"I am," I answered. "Hi, I'm Norah. Who are you?" I asked.

He stepped back, grimacing in pain briefly. "I guess your mother wasn't kidding when she said you didn't remember anyone but Levi..." he trailed off.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, feeling stupid.

"I'm your dad," he said. "Jacob. Your mom was in here earlier. Bella. You've got a brother and a sister. Rowan and Charlotte. Rowan's sixteen and Charlotte's fifteen. Your grandparents are Charlie and Renee and Sue..."

I nodded. "Well, I don't remember them either," I said helplessly. "I'm sorry..."

"You've told her about the baby?" Jacob asked Levi.

Levi nodded.

"Did you know about him?" Jacob asked me. I shook my head.

"Dr. Fang is on his way," Jacob told Levi. "He said that he's ordered a CAT scan to see what damage has been done to her brain. The nurses should be in here soon to take her away for that procedure. He can't seem to say whether or not this possible brain damage is reversible or not."

Levi frowned. "It better be reversible," he grimaced. "Or Diego Rodriguez is going to have hell to pay."

"Why would you be mad at Diego Rodriguez?" I asked.

Jacob glared at Levi and Levi sighed before looking back at me.

"I just don't like him, that's all," he grumbled.

I frowned, but went along with what he said.

I looked around the hospital room, still dazed and confused. I felt so tired. An impossibly large birthday card was hung up by the window. It was open and "HAPPEE BIRTDAY NORAH" was written in large childish handwriting. A drawing was below it, of a stick woman with a large baby with a baby stick figure inside her belly... this one saying "GET WEEL NORAH AND BABY NEFEW."

"Who drew those?" I asked Levi.

"My little brother," he replied. "Sebastian. He's six now."

I nodded. I didn't remember Sebastian either. But obviously he loved me and the baby very much.

A soft knock on the door caused Jacob and Levi to look over to the window.

"Norah?" a lady asked. She was dressed in blue scrubs and had a clipboard with her. "Dr. Cullen wanted us to take you down for a CAT scan. Is now a good time?"

Levi smiled at me and nodded to the nurse. "I'll go down with her," he replied. Somehow he knew I needed him with me.

* * *

After the rather interesting CAT scan procedure, the nurses took me back to my room. Levi followed me the whole time. A teenage girl with short black hair sat on the bench outside my room and once the nurses left, she came in.

"Hi," she said, waving to me. Levi frowned at her in confusion. "I'm Charley. Well, Charlotte, but anybody who's anybody just calls me Charley. I'm your sister. I'm fifteen." She sat down in the empty chair beside my bed.

"Charley," Levi sighed. "She doesn't remember you."

"I know that," Charley said to Levi. "That's why I introduced myself."

Levi sighed. I could see the irritation written on his face, yet I couldn't understand it. Why would he be frustrated with my sister coming to see me, especially after I had been unconscious for months?

"Rowan's here, too," Charley added. "Our brother. He's been so worried about you... maybe even more than Jacob is."

"Rowan's sixteen?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's been sixteen for a while," Charley said, sitting down.

I nodded.

"Well, honey, I'm going to go find Dr. Cullen and figure out what's up with your scans. I'll send Rowan in and let you guys get... reacquainted," Levi said, getting up. The uncomfortable look was still on his face and I couldn't figure it out.

He gave me a swift kiss and then headed out of the room. A gangly teenage boy cautiously came in, looking a bit apprehensive.

"Rowan?" I asked.

"Norah?" Rowan asked, looking excited. "You know who I am?"

"Because I told her you were outside," Charley told him.

His shoulders sagged and he took a seat on the other side of me. "I'm your brother," he said. "How could you not remember me?"

"I don't know," I said, feeling guilty. "But if I could, I would, Rowan. You know that? I'd give anything to have my memories back."

An uncomfortable silence followed.

"Do you guys know what's up with Levi?" I finally asked. "He's seemed on edge all day long. And he keeps bringing up this Diego Rodriguez person."

Charley looked worried. "I don't know if we should be the people to tell you. I think you might be a bit better off hearing this from Levi."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "That makes it sound bad!"

"It's nothing really bad..." Charley replied. "It's just not our place to stick ourselves in your relationship when it's a problem that Levi has."

"Who does Levi have a problem with?" I asked.

"Embry said for you not to open your mouth!" Rowan hissed.

"I didn't say anything!" Charley snapped back at him.

"Who's Embry?" I asked, deciding to change the subject since I obviously wasn't going to get any information out of either Charley or Rowan at this point.

"My boyfriend," Charley answered. "He's a good friend of Jacob's, so there's the reason right there he didn't want me to say anything."

"Say anything about what?" I countered.

"What Levi needs to tell you on his _own_," Charley insisted huffily.

"Which is _what_?" I asked, completely baffled. Levi and I never kept secrets from one another. Why did everyone want me to start thinking he'd all of a sudden started to?

"He'll tell you. Eventually," Charley replied. "It's not my place to say."

"Rowan, Charley, out," the brown-haired woman said, coming in again. Bella. That was her name. It was so hard for me to think of her as my mother – she looked so _young._ Definitely not old enough to have teenage kids. She barely looked old enough to be a mother at all.

"Norah, honey, you need to get your rest," she hushed me.

"But apparently, I've been out for months," I countered. "Why do I need even _more_ sleep?"

"Carlisle says it will help you heal faster. That if you sleep and let your brain heal that you might get your memories back faster. We'll all be here when you wake up," she said, trying to tuck me in.

"But I can't sleep," I replied. "Not with all of this going on. Not with having just found out I'm having a _baby_ that I don't even remember conceiving. Not when Levi's not here to promise me he'll be here when I wake up. Not when I don't know if everything's going to be okay!"

"Hush," Bella said, tucking my hair behind my ear. "We'll all be here when you wake up. I promise."

And with that, I leaned back into the soft pillows once again and closed my eyes, trying to focus on getting whatever memories I had back... because I had no idea what was going on or who was who or when everything would return to normal again.

* * *

_Sorry for the long wait! I hope this chapter helped make up some of my absence! The next chapter's been started!_

_Please review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo  
_


	30. Sinister

Chapter 30 – Sinister

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**Disclaimer: **Goodness, no, I don't own Twilight! haha.

**A/N: **It's my birthday. Send me reviews in lieu of presents. :P haha.

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"Do you really think it's possible?" Dad asked me, looking down. "No matter how hard I tried, I could never break the imprint. Do you think it's possible that Norah could have had feelings for someone else? That she could have been intimate with someone else without going through excruciating pain like your mother and I did? Do you really feel that strongly that the baby she's carrying could be that Diego guy's?"

"I don't know," I answered for what felt like the millionth time. For months, I had been fighting this battle alone. For months, I had feared that the woman I loved more than anyone else on the planet could have conceived another man's child. The fear was irrational, but after they had pulled Diego Rodriguez and Norah out of the wreckage of the Ford Escape they had been riding in, my mind had been playing tricks on me. Why was she with him? Why had she run from La Push and made her way to Salt Lake City? She had been gone for weeks and hadn't even seemed to take a second glance at me.

And yet I still loved her. Yet I stood day after day, holding her hand, talking to her about the baby, bonding with them both. And we had nearly lost them both. At 12 weeks, she had gone into cardiac arrest and they had brought them both back. The doctor's didn't want to perform an amniocentesis for paternity results weeks afterward because they were in such a delicate condition.

And so I had gotten Seth Clearwater and Will Black together and we headed through the streets of Bellevue. We tracked Diego Rodriguez down after he had been discharged from the University of Washington Medical Center. And we found him.

The house was a small blue one, complete with a gray door. The shutters were a dark navy and the roof was gray, too. The mailbox clearly said "J.D.R" and by listening to the conversation inside, we were able to clearly distinguish two men and a woman talking. The woman, Maria, was married to Juan, one of the men. They were older, middle-aged, and the younger man they referred to as Diego.

The car was a rental. That sealed the deal.

We headed up to the door, me leading both Will and Seth. He answered and looked at us in surprise. I took in his appearance. He was wearing some sort of billowy robe, the hood hanging silkily off the back of it, a thick shiny cloth, dark blue, tied with a crimson satin ribbon. Not the sort of clothing normal people would wear. It sent off my red flags.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Levi Uley," I said, extending my hand. "I need to know your relationship with Norah Black," I said briskly. He welcomed us in, looking at Will and Seth warily.

"She was running," he said simply, looking over at his parents who headed into the kitchen promptly. "She mentioned being promised to some guy and not having a choice in the matter. I told her that today's society doesn't 'promise' young women off to men. She said it was a tribal matter. Coffee?" he asked, offering us some.

"No thanks," I continued, cutting Will off, who clearly looked excited at the prospect of being offered coffee after our trip.

"Did you find her attractive?" Seth asked, cutting me off.

"Of course," Diego answered. "She was pretty. Long black hair, warm brown eyes, great personality... what wasn't there to like?"

"Were the two of you physical in any way?" Seth pressed abruptly.

"What kind of question is that?" Diego replied, glaring at me. "We were friends. She leaned on me for support and I told her everything would be okay. I'd like to think I relieved some of her stress."

"Oh, I bet you did," Will said, rolling his eyes.

"Mr. Rodriguez, are you aware that Norah is pregnant?" Seth asked. I watched him carefully. His reaction did not seem too surprised.

"Congratulations," he told me. "A baby. Isn't that just swell?" I could hear the sarcasm dripping from his lips.

It took everything I had not to react.

"Mr. Rodriguez," Seth continued. "Is there a possibility that the baby could be yours?"

"I'm not answering any more questions until I have a lawyer present," Diego said shortly. "I've welcomed you into my house, I've offered you coffee, and I've entertained your questions for as long as they've seemed appropriate. I sincerely hope that Norah has recovered from the tragic car accident we were in and I wish you the best. Now please, there's the door. Leave."

I stared at him, not quite seeing what Norah could have possibly seen in such a person. Before the imprint, I could have never seen her with such a man as Diego Rodriguez. He seemed pleasant enough at first, and he quite obviously cared about her, but his evasiveness upon us questioning him just seemed fishy. I didn't quite understand what his motives were. And it killed me to even think of him touching my beautiful Norie, being intimate with her, being _inside_ her, tainting her.

I wanted to kill him. To rip every shred of skin and muscle from his very bones. And had Will and Seth not grabbed me and led me away, I probably would have.

We arrived outside and phased immediately after we had arrived in the woods near the house.

_Did you see it?_ It was Seth.

_What? _I asked, frowning and looking back at him.

_There was a wand, on the coffee table, next to the kettle, _Seth replied.

_Are you sure it was a wand?_ Will asked. _It looked like a stick of some sort._

_A stick to stir the coffee?_ Seth smirked. _Yeah, right. I have a feeling that Norah's memory loss isn't just from the car wreck. I think it's probably something more sinister than that._

_What do you mean? _I said, turning around to look at Seth. _D'you think he put some sort of a spell on her, to make her forget her memories?_

_Anything's possible,_ Seth said darkly.

_He _was_ being pretty evasive, _Will commented thoughtfully.

But nothing else had been found to back up the idea that Diego Rodriguez was capable of magical powers or had personally done anything to cause Norah's subsequent memory loss after she had woken up. And from the way the had seemed so worried about Norah, I couldn't see him doing anything to harm her on purpose.

All I knew was that if Diego Rodriguez was behind Norah's memory loss, he was one very dead man.

Jacob and Bella were absolutely stunned by the fact that Norah couldn't remember them. Jacob had mentioned to Dad that Bella spent most of her time alone in the house and hadn't even spent much time with Mom lately. She had looked forward to the moment when Norah could open her eyes and finally speak to us again, start preparing for the baby, and as Jacob put it, she wanted to let Norah know that she wasn't necessarily upset or angry that she was having a baby out of wedlock. And since Norah woke up not knowing who Jacob and Bella were, all of that was held at bay. Jacob suspected that it caused Bella even more pain that nearly anyone else.

Except me.

I hadn't yet asked Jacob's permission, but the day Norah was in the car accident was the day I was planning on asking her to marry me. Before I even knew about the baby, before I knew about Diego Rodriguez, before... all of this. I had gone through so much pain without her that I knew that I didn't want to live without her ever again. And when both Norah and the baby's lives were on the line when she went into cardiac arrest, I suddenly realized how fragile they both were and how much I needed to protect both of them.

But asking Norah to marry me now, when I wasn't sure how much of everything she did remember, seemed like trouble. The last thing she needed now was more excitement and the most important thing was getting her memories back. As much as I wanted to propose right then and there, my head told my heart to wait it out.

Heading back into the hospital after the encounter with Diego Rodriguez, I was frustrated. I did my best to hide the feelings and to not let them show on my face – I knew Norah could read me like a book and I didn't want her to know what I was up to. She probably didn't remember Diego either. No use in getting things stirred up before she knew what was even going on...

I headed into her room, seeing her looking out the window, Charley watching her from the chair across the room.

"Hey guys," I said, grinning to them both.

"Hey Levi," Charley said, nodding to me. "See, Norah," she said, looking over at my Norie, whose face was all aglow with pure joy, "I told you he would be back soon."

"I thought it was too good to be true," she said, looking like an angel on Christmas morning.

"I'll be back in a few," Charley said, winking at Norah. "I think I'm going to go find myself some sort of early dinner."

"See ya," I said, pulling up a chair next to Norah's bed.

Norah was looking down at the blanket covering her legs. A troubled look suddenly covered her face as she looked down at her round belly.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"I've put you through so much," she said, biting down on her bottom lip. "Levi, I am so sorry..." she sniffed.

"Oh, honey," I said, putting a hand in her long black hair. "No you haven't."

"I've been out for months and I don't remember anyone except for you and this _other_ guy and I don't even know why you would even want to have a baby with me, anyway." She looked down at her belly and pulled her shirt and the blanket around it, accentuating it. "I woke up and I didn't even _know_ about him... how bad of a mother must I be if I can't even remember my own child?"

"Honey," I said softly, "you weren't very far along when you were in the accident... I doubt you even knew how far along you really were..."

She seemed distracted, agitated.

"Is that all that's on your mind?" I asked her. "Just the baby?"

"Well, I wonder if I might be getting my memory back, just little bits and pieces," she said. "But if this is really what kind of person I was, then I don't think I like myself very much," she confessed.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Well, I remember you, of course," she said. She then frowned and furrowed her eyebrows. "But there's someone else, too. He was tall, but not as tall as you. Some sort of dark skin coloring... but not black and definitely not Quileute. But the memories..." her face crumpled into a painful grimace, "oh Levi... they're awful and yet so wonderful at the same time."

My stomach twisted viciously.

"Diego?" I uttered.

"How did you know?" she asked, turning to look at me. "That's the name in my memory."

"Let's just say that Diego isn't my favorite person," I said. "There's something that suggests that he might know a bit about the car accident you were in," I said, tiptoeing around the truth.

"But in my memory, he seems like such a nice and caring person," she insisted. "I'm sure he didn't purposefully wreck his car on accident!"

"What exactly is your memory with Diego?" I asked carefully.

Norah blushed scarlet. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that."

"And why not?" I asked, getting frustrated.

"I would if I could, but I can't!" she snapped back, obviously sensing my frustration.

Frustrated, I got up and stalked over to the window, doing my best to keep my anger under control. If she couldn't tell me what it was, then obviously, it wasn't something good.

"Everyone has been so damn worried about you, Norah! We've all been sitting around this hospital room for months, waiting on you to wake up. And if this is really progress and not something you're just making up, you really need to let me know!" I fumed.

"Levi!"

I whipped around to see Rowan and Charley standing in the doorway. Rowan was glaring at me. Norah looked over at them and then burst into tears. Charley pushed Rowan out of the way and hurried over to the bed to comfort her sister. Frustratedly, I headed out of the room. Rowan followed me.

"What are you thinking, yelling at her?" he hissed, obviously pissed off. "You know you're the only one that she can remember and trust right now and she can't take you being mad at her!"

"I'm not the only one," I retorted, tears stinging my eyes. "She remembers Diego Rodriguez. I knew I was right. There's a chance that baby is Diego's. Not mine."

* * *

_Oooohh... Levi's upset! And he's saying stuff he doesn't mean. Stupid boy._

_Again, it's my birthday so reviews would be MUCH appreciated! :D_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	31. Identity

Chapter 31: Identity

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**Disclaimer:** If I owned Taylor Lautner, I would be a very happy person. However, I don't own Taylor. I don't own Twilight, either. But I am half Native American. At least that's something.

**A/N:** Yes, I know it has been FOREVER since I've updated. I've been swamped with school and work and was diagnosed with PTSD this week. It's been hell week. However, I am traveling to Chicago in a few hours AND I was STOKED to hear a fantastic review about the "magical triple threat" of "Jacob's Baby," "Jacob's Promise," and "Jacob's Daughters" on a wonderful ning dot com website called Easy as Breathing. The trilogy was voted #4 by EIB, one of the nice ladies on the blog/podcast, and quite honestly, I was so honored, I decided to finish up the chapter I've been writing for the last two months. LOL. Although EIB said that she wanted to slap me for the events revolved Jacob and Leah in JP, I decided to give her this whenever she finds it. ;) Thanks ladies!

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I couldn't help but cry. I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want Levi to be mad at me, but the eerie feeling that he could read my mind wasn't helping things. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I loved Levi – it was the only thing I could remember for sure. But this other memory had cropped up and it kept getting stronger and stronger and more vivid. And it scared me. If I loved Levi, then what on earth was I doing in such a position with someone else?

_I was wearing a black dress. It was rather short and the front of it came down in a low V. I was following someone into an apartment. It was rather eclectic. Very metro with a touch of minimalism._

_I was with a man. I supposed it was his apartment. He was rather good-looking, tall, dark hair, dark skin – definitely ethnic of some sort, probably South American. _

"_Norah," he said, taking my hand, "why don't you have a seat while I get our drinks. What would you like?"_

"_Surprise me," I said, in a tone much too provocative for the occasion – it made me blush as I recalled it._

_He came back with something fancy in a little glass. I took it and sipped. He took a seat next to me and I scooted next to him a little closer, my head resting on the outside of his arm._

_We sat in silence for a while, the drink slowly making me feel rather relaxed and cozy. I leaned forward and sat it down on the table after I was finished and leaned back into his arm, looking up at his face._

The memory grew fuzzy and then came back into focus.

_We were in a bedroom. I was wearing something different. So was he. But what caught me off-guard was the fact that I was leaning back on his bed, him alongside me._

"_You know, I'm going to be really sad when you go back home to La Push," Diego told me. I wasn't sure how I remembered his name or why it came so easily to the forefront of my mind. "We've only known each other a week and it feels like it's been forever."_

"_I know," I said. "I don't typically offer this, but umn..." I grinned devilishly. "Perhaps I could give you something to remember me by before I go?"_

_Diego looked surprised. "Well, I don't know... I don't typically do things with women until we're in a solid relationship. And I haven't really known you all that long..." he trailed off._

"_Oh, I understand. I've only given myself to one other person – the one I'm promised to back at La Push. And when I go back, they're going to force me to marry him and then my only chance to see what it's like with someone else – a possibility of a _real_ relationship will be gone," I was biting my bottom lip and pleading with him._

"_If you're sure," he said hesitantly._

_And I filled the gap between us, kissing him passionately, getting on top of him and straddling him, my hips slowly, sensually gyrating in circles on top of him... One hand worked at the button of my pants, pulling them off, exploring me; the other softly massaged my breast, kneading it and rolling the nipple under the soft pad of his thumb..._

_And then, him entering me swiftly, working up a steady drilling rhythm, the sound of my moaning and his grunting filling the room... over and over again, 'Diego, Diego...'_

And then the memory continued...

"_Baby, I don't want you to leave me," he pleaded. "Please, stay here in Salt Lake with me."_

"_Okay," my memory-self had answered. "I will."_

And finally, as I traced the thoughts, I remembered.

_I had bought the pregnancy test from the drug store. Diego had gone off somewhere in the apartment because we were packing. We had had a fight and I had insisted he take me back to La Push immediately. My car had been acting up and wasn't up for the long drive back home. I had taken the pregnancy test into the bathroom and watched it carefully as it turned into a bright, clear + sign._

_I was pregnant and engaged to someone else. Even though my fiance was the love of my life, I was pregnant with someone else's baby. I cared about Diego deeply, but I was already engaged to someone that I loved and I couldn't break his heart._

I couldn't remember anything else. Everyone had told me that I was in the accident coming off the expressway into Seattle. But every single memory I had clearly told me that the baby I was carrying wasn't Levi's. As much as I tried to pull up some other memory telling me why I told this Diego person I would stay in Salt Lake City with him, I couldn't come up with a thing. And while Levi had been up here every single day since the accident, holding my hand and talking to me and bracing for the possibility that he was going to be a single dad, I was almost positive that the baby wasn't his. Why else would I have memories about someone else? I felt like the most awful person in the whole world.

I kept this information close to my heart for a while, not sure if I should tell anyone at all. The last thing I needed was for the only person I remembered to completely disappear, leaving me all alone. Levi and I seemed connected somehow... I didn't know if I could function if he left me. And as much as I didn't know who I was in whatever past life I had had, I didn't think I was the kind of person who would so easily sleep around. It didn't make any sense. The connection I had with Levi was too strong, too overwhelming for me to even think of anyone else.

Because I couldn't remember anything else, I spent all of my time focusing on the very issue at hand. I continuously stared out the window, trying to make sense of all of it, getting nowhere all the while.

It was a cold, rainy Friday when, Charley, my sister, came in, looking at me curiously.

"You okay, Norah?" she asked, looking over at me curiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said quickly.

She frowned and walked over to my bed and sat down next to me. "You sure?"

I sighed. How judgmental could Charley be? Could she keep a secret?

"No," I answered quietly.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking over at me with concern written all over her face.

I paused, trying to figure out the best way to lead into the conversation. I was nervous. "Levi's not the only person I remember," I said quietly.

"Okay," Charley said. I could tell she was trying to disguise her surprise. "Who else do you remember?" she asked.

"I remember someone named Diego. I don't know his last name or where he is now, but I think I met him in Salt Lake City. He was tall, had dark hair, darker skin..." I trailed off as Charley's face paled.

"What?" I asked.

"He was the guy in the car with you when they pulled you out," she said. "He was in the hospital for the first day or so and then they released him. He had a concussion or something."

"Where is he now?" I pressed her.

"I don't know," she answered. "Why does it matter?"

"Does Levi know anything about him?" I asked.

"I think he took Seth and Will and they went to go ask him some questions," she said thoughtfully. "But I really don't know what else they did."

"Questions about what?" I asked, agitatedly. Had Levi gone and gotten himself into trouble?

"I don't know!" Charley snapped. She took a breath. "Look, I'm sorry, but I don't see why there's any reason you should remember this Diego person."

"I think he's the father of the baby," I said quietly.

"_What?_" Charley asked, aghast.

"I just have this memory. And as much as I don't like it, I don't remember doing anything with Levi that could result in me getting pregnant!"

"And in this memory, you do remember doing something with Diego?" Charley guessed, frowning.

I nodded, feeling humiliated. "I've been sitting here rethinking things over and over again and as much as I remember everything about Levi and most of our time together, I don't ever remember taking that step with him."

"But you did," Charley insisted. "Embry and I were outside when you got into a fight with Levi afterward and then you left just a couple of hours later. And Levi said that the reason for the argument is because you got upset because the condom broke."

"But if that's true, then how come I don't remember it?" I protested. "Something _that_ important, like losing my virginity, wouldn't I at least remember it!"

"I don't know," Charley answered sadly. "But your memories might come back! You can't just lose hope! The Norah I know would keep fighting until she got everything back. I know she's down in there somewhere, Norie. You just have to stay strong."

"Charley, imagine waking up nearly five months pregnant, not remembering anyone in your immediate family, and only remembering your boyfriend and some other guy that you don't have any other recollection of besides a strand of memories that sound like they could have come out of a crappy dime romance novel or a soap opera. Seriously, have that happen to you and then come back and tell me to stay strong," I remarked frustratedly. "No one seems to understand what I'm going through!"

"Here," Charley said, pulling a book out of the drawer next to her. "Let's stop talking about all of this and start thinking about baby names. Didn't Levi tell you that he found out that the baby was a boy?"

"Yeah," I said glumly. "The baby I didn't know about until yesterday."

"Hush," Charley said, popping open the book. "I like Auden."

"Umn, that sounds like Aiden which is Levi's brother's name," I sighed. "No."

"Okay, a B name. Benjamin."

The door opened and Bella walked in, smiling at the two of us – her stepdaughter pouring over a baby names' book while her daughter probably looked like she was less than thrilled at the prospect of choosing a name for her child.

"I like Benjamin," she said softly. "We almost chose it for Rowan, but Benjamin Black sounds like some sort of fairy tale character. Ben Black isn't much better," she grimaced.

"Benjamin Uley?" Charley said, stringing the names together. "That's cute!"

"Yeah, isn't there some unspoken rule that the parents are supposed to name the children," I snapped. "As much as I appreciate the input, the only person that will be naming this child is _me_. Even if I _do_ like Benjamin," I added with a slight smirk. For some reason I didn't think Levi would agree with the name choice.

"Hey guys, we're still at two visitors at a time and I think I'd like to spend some time with my imprint if that's okay," Levi said, sticking his head into the room.

"I've been in here for a while," Charley said, getting up and sticking the baby name book back on the end table. She gave me a hug. "Hang in there, sis," she replied. I smiled back at her and waved as she traded places with Levi at my side.

"Hey beautiful," he said, taking a seat next to me. Something seemed off about him. He seemed distracted and I wasn't quite sure why.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, taking his hand into my own. "Why are you so high strung? This isn't like you."

"I'm worried," he finally responded. "Something just isn't right about that Diego character," he huffed.

I sighed and looked up at him, gauging his possible reaction before I nervously told him what I knew.

"I've gotten some of my memories back," I said carefully. "Here and there."

His eyes grew bright and a smile flashed across his face in hopeful optimism. "What sort of memories?" he asked.

"It's about Diego," I replied, feeling extraordinarily guilty. "I met him in Salt Lake City. He said he was a lawyer. But some of the memories I've had... they just really don't seem like something I'd do. Unless I really don't know who I am at all..." I trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Levi pressed.

"The baby..." I sighed, placing my hand on my belly. "I don't think he's yours." It nearly killed me to say it; my heart felt like it was being ripped from the seams, the sinewy muscle fibers tearing painfully apart.

Levi nodded. "So?" he asked finally. "I love you, Norah. I've been playing around with the idea for a few days. It doesn't matter if this baby is mine or not. You're still my imprint and I love you more than anything. We're meant to be together and we can withstand any of this. You know that."

Tears fell from my eyes and I felt like I was drowning in my own sorrows. "It's not fair, Levi. I don't deserve someone like you."

"Trust me, Norie. I'm not completely perfect. I've done some pretty shitty things in my life, but this is the one thing I'm meant to be doing right. Having a family with you is something I've dreamed of for so long. I love you."

I smiled at him weakly. How did I deserve someone as amazing as Levi Uley? I wasn't sure.

The door slammed shut, startling the pair of us. I ripped my eyes from Levi and looked toward the door.

"What a beautiful sight," the girl at the door drawled, a hand pushed into her blonde hair as she leaned against the wall. "Mommy, Daddy, and little bun in the oven. It's a shame you didn't get what was really coming for you."

"What are you talking about?" Levi asked, his grip on my hand tightening. He stood up and turned his back to me protecting me.

"Did you really think I was just going to disappear for forever?" Aubrey Miller had a smirk on her face as she eyed me pathetically. "I mean, damn. Some replacement, huh? You turn your back for one night and she's already gone off and gotten pregnant with some other guy's kid."

"Get out," I seethed. The stupid bimbo bitch was the last person on earth I wanted to see right now.

"No thanks. I'm actually really quite comfortable here." Her stilettos made their way across the room to Levi and suddenly, she was mere millimeters away from him. "I mean, it's quite refreshing to see what Levi left me for. Someone who was just going to stab him in the back in the end. Well, topsy turvy, that's just how the world goes around, now isn't it Sweet Cheeks?" She gave Levi's cheek a quick pinch before turning around and looking around the room. "Nice abode," she said to me, helping herself to one of the flowers near my window and sticking it in her hair.

"Aubrey, you're not needed here," Levi hissed. "Leave. Now."

"Like I was _going_ to say, I work as a secretary here in the hospital. Therefore, I get to handle confidential paperwork all of the time. You know, your little wolf boy here ran a paternity test on that baby. I guess since they pulled you out of the wreckage of that car with some other guy. Shame he hasn't flat out come and told you that the kid isn't his. I guess that's just Levi's style though. He's a great pretender. If he closes his eyes and pretends that nothing's wrong and hides, then no one will see that he's just a big fat cry baby."

I looked over at Levi and I could see that his hands were closed tightly in fists. The vein near his temple was bulging menacingly.

"Get the _fuck_ out. _Now_."

"Toodles, Baby Mama," Aubrey said, winking at me. "Have fun collecting your thoughts." And with that, she pranced out the door.

"She works in the _hospital?_" Levi muttered in frustration.

"What perplexes me the most, Levi," I said, bothered by what the bitch had said, "is that she said you had a paternity test run on the baby. When was this and _why_ did you feel that it was necessary?"

"It wasn't just a paternity test," Levi insisted. "The amniocentesis was to screen for other diseases, too. But I had had some doubts about the Diego guy, so I had the doctor run Diego's DNA as well. I haven't opened the results because I wanted to figure out what kind of guy Diego Rodriguez was. I knew I would love this child no matter what because I love _you_. But there are a lot of holes surrounding Diego that I'm really not sure about."

"What are you talking about?" I insisted.

"I don't think Diego Rodriguez is really who he says he is," Levi said, sighing. "I'm trying to get it all figured out."

"Well if he's not who he says he is, then who is he?" I asked frustratedly.

"A big fat liar, that's what," Levi said, his eyes narrowing. "And a damn good one, too."

* * *

_Please review!_

_Much love,  
xoxo_


	32. Not an update, but a must read! :D

**No, this isn't an update. **

**BUT, I thought this was the best way to let you know about my newest project. I am opening a brand-new weblog at LeahAnneOriginals dot blogspot dot com and will officially be posting all of my original work there - mostly one-shots and short stories and such. It should be pretty awesome. I can't post stuff that's not fan fiction related here, so this is the next best thing I can think of. I have full control of everything there and can take down stuff and put new stuff up and such. Since a lot of this stuff, I can't consider writing a huge novel about (mostly because there's not enough material to expand), I'll just write little blurbs and creative things about certain experiences of mine that I can elaborate on and fictionize a bit. Anyway, hope you guys will go over there and take a look! I'm lucky to have so many amazing readers and I think this new project will give you a lot of new stuff to enjoy.**

**Thanks so much for all of your support! I love each and every one of you!**

**LeahAnne**


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